Las Vegas, Nev. – A man who robbed the Lucky Nickel Saloon in April and shot a patron in the leg while doing so, was sentenced today to 20 years in prison and five years of supervised release, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Brian Fierro, 49, of Las Vegas, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Roger L. Hunt. Fierro was convicted on November 4, 2009, of one count each of interference with commerce by robbery and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm.

On April 8, 2009, at approximately 12:20 a.m., the Lucky Nickel Saloon, located at 2075 Palm Street in Las Vegas, was robbed by a masked man carrying a large silver revolver. During the robbery, the robber shot one of the patrons, causing permanent nerve damage to his leg. The bullet went through the victim's leg and was recovered from a wall in the bar. The masked robber then took approximately $400 from one of the bar's registers and fled. The robbery was captured on the bar's video surveillance system. The following day, an individual reported to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Metro) detective that a man named Brian Fierro was in possession of a revolver that had recently been used in a bar robbery and was trying to sell it. The Metro detective made arrangements for an undercover detective to attempt to purchase a firearm from Fierro, and five days following the robbery, on April 13, 2009, Fierro sold a .357 Magnum revolver to the undercover detective. The gun was matched to a bullet recovered from the scene of the saloon robbery.

At the time of the robbery, Fierro was a five-time convicted felon, with prior convictions for robbery and armed robbery, drug possession, and possession of a stolen vehicle.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Drew Smith and Lucas M. Foletta.

Return to Top