Darryl Leach Gets 94 Months for Gun Crime, Witness Attack

Darryl Damon Leach, 36, of Charlotte, is headed to federal prison for 94 months after terrorizing a gas station clerk and later orchestrating a brutal attack on a witness to cover his tracks. The sentence, handed down yesterday, marks the end of a violent spree that began with a gun pulled at a Shell station and escalated into a campaign of intimidation that left a woman bloodied and broken.

On March 5, 2020, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officers responded to a call at the Shell gas station on 1125 Sugar Creek Road. The clerk reported that Leach, accompanied by a female witness, flashed a Hi-Point semiautomatic pistol before punching him repeatedly until he collapsed. Surveillance footage later corroborated the attack. Leach and the woman fled, but not before police began piecing together the identity of the armed suspect.

Leach was arrested on March 14, 2020, during a traffic stop. Inside his vehicle, law enforcement recovered the very firearm used in the gas station assault. With him again was the same woman who had witnessed the crime. At that time, he was charged with state offenses and released on bond — a decision that would quickly backfire as Leach sought to silence the only person who could tie him to the gun.

While on bond, Leach and an accomplice targeted the female witness in a vicious assault designed to shift blame. According to court records, the pair punched her, beat her, and placed her in a headlock until she relented, agreeing to falsely claim ownership of the firearm. The woman sustained extensive injuries requiring medical treatment. Instead of burying the truth, the attack exposed Leach’s desperation — and his willingness to escalate violence to evade justice.

Leach has two prior convictions for Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon, along with convictions for Second Degree Kidnapping and Burglary — crimes that legally barred him from possessing a firearm. On December 20, 2020, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. enhanced Leach’s sentence due to his attempt to obstruct justice, citing the witness assault as a calculated act of coercion.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Charlotte Field Division and CMPD, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Stout. Acting U.S. Attorney William T. Stetzer, ATF Special Agent in Charge Vincent C. Pallozzi, and CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings all confirmed the outcome, underscoring the federal-state collaboration that brought Leach to justice. He will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.