Former Halifax bouncer guilty of manslaughter in patron’s death sentenced to four years

Alexander Levy is seen at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax for his sentencing hearing on April 24, 2026. (Paul DeWitt/CTV News Atlantic)

A former Halifax bouncer found guilty of manslaughter in the death of a bar patron on Christmas Eve will spend four years behind bars.

Alexander Pishori Levy, 40, was accused of choking Ryan Sawyer, 31, outside the Halifax Alehouse on Dec. 24, 2022.

Levy was found guilty of both manslaughter and criminal negligence in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Nov. 26, 2025.

On Friday, Justice James Chipman sentenced Levy to four years in custody. He also issued a 10-year mandatory weapons prohibition and mandatory DNA order.

“It is tragic. Mr. Levy will no doubt carry the emotional burden of these events for the rest of his life,” said Chipman while delivering the sentence in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

“Ryan Sawyer was a loving, loved young man taken down in the prime of his life. I know that this sentence will do little to ease the terrible suffering for Ryan’s family and friends who must continue to go on with their lives without him.”

Levy spoke in court and apologized to Sawyer’s family.

“I’m very sorry to the family of Ryan Sawyer for what has happened. There is nothing I can do or say that could bring him back,” he said. “I don’t expect any kind of forgiveness.”

However, Levy maintained he was defending himself after being “attacked.”

“I tried to deal with the situation the best I could with the training that I had,” he told the court. “It was an unfortunate outcome, but it was not my intention … I’m sorry.”

Chipman granted a conditional stay on Levy’s conviction of criminal negligence causing death, noting the offence “arises out of the same delict.”

‘We lost a son’

Scott Sawyer, the victim’s father, says he’s disappointed in the sentence and is worried about the message it will send to bar staff.

“Put yourself in our shoes. We lost a son for basically a vicious act,” he told reporters outside the courtroom. “And four years. So, if you had a son or daughter, how would you feel? Four years. It’s almost like the justice system, the judge and the Crown are swimming upstream.”

Scott Sawyer and his wife are now fighting for Nova Scotia to implement stricter regulations for bouncers.

“This goes all the way back to the government not doing their job and still what my wife is courageously fighting for – change. And we’re still today doing that,” he said.

The Crown hopes the prison sentence will force bar staff to consider how they handle patrons.

“I do hope that that other bar staff look at this and think, you know, I have to be professional and just keep that in your mind at all times and think about what kind of force you’re applying to other people,” said Crown attorney Melanie Perry.

Defence to appeal sentence

Levy’s defence lawyer, James Giacomantonio, said his client is also disappointed in the outcome of the case.

“I think you can see his emotions in court. He’s been deeply affected by this tragedy,” said Giacomantonio. “And obviously he’s disappointed that he has to go into custody today.”

Giacomantonio had argued that Levy’s crime was closer to an accident, as he didn’t believe the chokehold would result in Sawyer’s death.

“He is a man of good character, but for this incident,” said the defence lawyer, who was seeking a conditional sentence with no prison time.

“It’s not to diminish the life of Ryan Sawyer. It’s simply to talk about the moral culpability of Alex Levy and, we believe to be, just a tragedy that Ryan Sawyer died.”

Giacomantonio says he has given notice to the Crown that they’re considering an appeal and intend on filing it in the next few weeks.

What happened at trial

Twenty witnesses, including 19 Crown witnesses, testified at Levy’s trial last year. They included first responders, Levy’s former co-owners from the now-shuttered Halifax Alehouse, bouncers, witnesses who captured cellphone video, as well as Sawyer’s twin brother and his cousin.

The lone defence witness was Levy, who testified in his own defence.

During the trial, court heard that Levy had asked Ryan Sawyer and his brother Kyle to leave the Halifax Alehouse, and things escalated when he escorted them outside the bar.

Levy testified that he squeezed Sawyer’s neck for 10-to-15 seconds, but the Crown argued it was much longer than that, closer to two minutes, when considering witness testimony and video footage.

Sawyer later died in hospital.

The defence had asked the judge to consider a self-defence argument and noted Levy had used the “rear-naked chokehold” on bar patrons about 100 times before.

Chipman sided with the Crown, stating he did not believe Levy’s testimony, and found his actions that night to be “unreasonable.” He said Levy used “extreme violence” to subdue Sawyer, who went into cardiac arrest.

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Callum Smith

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