For friends, family of Unfonak, sentencing was bitter sweet justice

Eric Langlais watches as the courtroom empties while his defense attorney Richard Samdperil closes his eyes. (Rochester Voice photos)

DOVER - Wednesday was a bittersweet day for friends and family of longtime and beloved Bang N Jane drummer Jim Unfonak, who died Feb. 1, 2016, from a single punch to the head in the parking lot of Gary's Sports Bar.

The man who delivered the punch that ended his life, Eric Langlais of Barnstead, received the maximum sentence of three and a half to seven years after being found guilty of negligent homicide in September. The defense had requested 3-6.

But for everyone close to Unfonak, the maximum sentence seemed a small price to pay for taking a man's life.

The sentence by Strafford County Superior Court Judge Mark S. Howard means that Langlais, whose turned 43 on Wednesday, will be eligible for parole in just one year, nine months and seven days from today, since Langlais has 628 days of pretrial credit for time already served.

Eric Langlais looks up at the ceiling moments after he was sentenced in the negligent homidide death of Jim Unfonak or Rochester.

Unfonak was mortally wounded after Langlais punched him in the face in the parking lot of Gary's Sports Bar early the morning of Jan. 31, 2016. After being struck under the chin the longtime Bang N Jane drummer fell to the ground hitting his head on the packed snow and ice.

He was taken first to Frisbie Memorial Hospital and then to Maine Medical Center in Portland, but never regained consciousness. Doctors confirmed he had suffered severe brain damage, and he was taken off life support the following day.

Wednesday's sentence is a far cry from what Assistant County Attorney Tim Sullivan and the family and friends of Unfonak had envisioned at the start of his trial in August, when he faced 15-30 years on a manslaughter charge.

Howard, in pronouncing sentence, sternly rebuked Langlais for not taking one of the many opportunities he had the night of Jan. 30 to disengage himself from the escalating situation at Gary's that culminated with his sucker punching Unfonak as he was about to get into a car to take him home.

"You engaged in a violent act and you had many chances to get away and did not," Howard said.

"Mr. Langlais wanted a piece of Jimmy, it was his decision to wait outside the bar after being told to leave," Sullivan said in his presentencing arguments.

It also came to light from Sullivan that in 2004 Langlais was convicted of second degree assault for breaking the rib of his four-month-old child.

Sue Erickson, the mother of Kelsey Mountain, Unfonak's longtime girlfriend, called Langlais a "monster" during her victim impact statement.

"This monster has hurt too many people," Erickson said. "I'm begging you to give him the maximum, he's a killer."

Reference was also made to the confrontation Langlais had with a patron at a Dover tavern earlier in the day before coming to Gary's where tensions began anew with Unfonak.

After the sentencing was over and a somber Langlais was led away by Sheriff's deputies to begin his prison stint, Jean McMaugh, Langlais' mom, stood outside the courtroom and expressed condolences and sympathy to the family and friends of Unfonak.

Asked if she was hoping for a lighter sentence for her son, she said, "I wanted the judge to be fair and I think he was fair."

Unfonak, in a barely audible voice, his hands shaking as he held a single piece of paper he read from, expressed remorse and accepted responsibility for what he had done, adding he wished he could go back and change that night.

Unfonak's family and friends, immediately exchanging hugs and high fives as the sentencing was given, quickly and quietly left the courtroom afterward, leaving Langlais to sit quietly with his two defense lawyers and quietly acknowledge family and friends who had come to support him.

As he was led from the second floor to a waiting elevator many called out "Happy Birthday, Eric."

Meanwhile, McMaugh reminded everyone during her comments that "Jimmy would've been 45 on Nov. 22, and he won't be there for Thanksgiving or any Thanksgiving."