The sentencing of Patrick Gleason, the Crest Hill man convicted of the 2018 murder of bartender Daniel “Danny” Rios III, was postponed until at least January after a pre-sentencing motion by Gleason’s attorneys was granted Tuesday.

Gleason, 63, was convicted on Oct. 2 of the first-degree murder of Rios, a bartender at Izzy’s Bar in Joliet, as well as the attempted murder of bar patron Artis Henderson and the aggravated battery of Thomas Izquierdo, the bar owner’s son.

Gleason is facing a sentence of at least 20 years for the three offenses and the prosecution has asked for a 25-year firearm enhancement due to the murder being committed with a gun.

Gleason’s attorneys, Jeff Tomczak and CJ Haney of the Tomczak Law Group, filed a motion to drop the firearm enhancement, claiming it would be unconstitutional given their client’s age.

“We believe that as applied to Mr. Gleason, the sentence would amount to a de facto life sentence, and cruel and unusual punishment,” Haney told Shaw Local News.

“The minimum sentence he would face is 45 years. The longest a person has ever lived in Department of Corrections custody is 94, and Mr. Gleason is already 63. It takes away any judicial discretion Judge [Vincent] Cornelius might exercise to take into account his life with no prior criminal convictions,” Haney said.

In cases where the constitutionality of a ruling is in question, the Illinois Attorney General’s office must be consulted.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Jim Long said he had reached out to the Attorney General’s office and spoken with Deputy Chief of Criminal Appeals Garson Fisher.

Long said if Cornelius determined the motion needed to be considered, Fisher had indicated the Attorney General’s office would need 30 days to respond to the request for review.

Cornelius granted the motion to consider the constitutionality of the firearms enhancement, which will delay next steps in the case into 2026.

The Attorney General’s office has until Dec. 22 to send it’s response, and the defense attorneys will be given two weeks to review it and respond.

Cornelius set a status hearing in the case for Jan. 6, 2026, at which point a date for a hearing on the firearm enhancement will be scheduled.

Tomczak and Haney also filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that the defense’s recommended jury instructions to consider Gleason may have acted in self-defense were ignored, and that certain pieces of evidence including clips of security footage from the night of the shooting should not have been presented.

Cornelius dismissed this motion.

“The court was clear on all it’s rulings, including the reason for denial of certain instructions,” said Cornelius. “The defendant was shooting intentionally and not in self-defense, having previously announced his intention to ‘shoot up the place.’”

Tomczak indicated regret that an extra hearing was required in the matter.

“I was hoping we would get an answer and resolve it today for the sake of everyone involved,” he said.

The families of the victims were in court Tuesday in hopes of the sentencing being handed down, and expressed frustration at the additional delay in a case which has already taken nearly eight years to resolve.

“For whatever reason, the law is made like this, the guilty seem to have more rights than the victims,” said Alfonso “Izzy” Izquierdo, the owner of Izzy’s Bar. “With how cut and dry this is, it never should have taken this long.”

“It’s very frustrating for our family,” said Rios’ sister, Laura Alvarado. “It will be eight years on March 9. I think it’s time we let my brother rest in peace. We have hope in the system though, and we will have our day.”