BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — A man who got drunk and strangled his coworker to death was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison, according to the 5th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
A Summit County jury found Miles Fernando Tovar, 40, guilty in March of reckless manslaughter and first-degree criminal trespass in the homicide of Brendan Rye on Nov. 6, 2019, in Breckenridge.
During the sentencing the judge noted Tovar's history of alcohol-related violence over the past 20 years. She sentenced him to 12 years on the manslaughter charge and two years on the trespassing charge, to be served consecutively. He was given 598 days credit for time already served.
Tovar and Rye and another person were subcontractors who were temporarily living in a Breckenridge condominium that they were renovating. The owner of the unit lived nearby and invited the men to dinner as a thank you. Tovar became drunk and the condo owner asked him to leave. Tovar returned multiple times, and Rye stepped in repeatedly to lead Tovar away, the district attorney's office said.
Tovar later went to Rye's room to have a "man conversation." This ended with Tovar shot in the leg once and Rye being found unconscious and not breathing in a bathroom. Rye was later pronounced deceased, and his death was ruled a homicide by manual strangulation.
A warrant was issued for Tovar's arrest in the case in February 2022. He eventually turned himself in to U.S. Marshals in Connecticut in October 2022, and was then extradited back to Colorado.
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