New BrunswickJustice Christa Bourque sentenced Michael Glaspy, 53, to three years in a federal prison in a Moncton courtroom on Monday. The decision came two years after 56-year-old Rodney Frenette’s death in a Moncton hospital following an altercation at Casino New Brunswick.Micheal Glaspy was found guilty of manslaughter in June for Rodney Frenette’s 2023 deathKatelin Belliveau · CBC News · Posted: Sep 08, 2025 1:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoMichael Glaspy was sentenced to three years in prison in Moncton’s Court of King’s Bench Monday and taken into custody. Here he is shown outside the courthouse on Aug. 13, 2025. (Pascal Raiche-Nogue/Radio-Canada)Moments after Justice Christa Bourque sentenced Micheal Glaspy to three years in prison Monday, he briefly turned to look at his family in the gallery before he was taken into custody.Bourque delivered her sentence in Moncton’s Court of King’s Bench after four weeks of trial. In June, a jury found the 53-year-old from Riverview guilty of manslaughter for the death of 56-year-old Rodney Frenette, who worked as a manager at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton.In her decision, Bourque told the court that sentencing an accused to manslaughter is “complex” because the offence ranges from a near-accident to a near-murder. It was her job to place Glaspy’s actions on the night of March 3, 2023, somewhere on that scale, she said.”I do not view this as a near-accident case,” she told a courtroom filled with both Glaspy and Frenette’s loved ones.Rodney Frenette, 56, died March 28, 2023, in hospital after being assaulted while working at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton. (Submitted by Connie Frenette)Manslaughter, a homicide that is not intentional, carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and there is no minimum. Bourque also added conditions to Glaspy’s sentence, prohibiting him from possessing firearms for 10 years.She went over facts of the case, which outline an altercation between Glaspy and Frenette inside the casino pub two years ago, which led to Frenette hitting his head on the pub floor.He died 24 days later in a Moncton hospital after a battle that his loved ones said led to a lot of pain, and Frenette losing his ability to communicate with them.”That life was cut short by Mr. Glaspy,” Bourque said in court Monday.She considered several factors in her decision, she said, including the fact that Glaspy was “significantly intoxicated” the night of the altercation. She also said as a man of his stature, Glaspy should have known the risk of harm he was imposing on Frenette when he initiated the conflict.She added that Frenette should have been able to work “without the fear of violence or death.”Frenette was working as a food and beverage manager at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton the night of the altercation between the two men. (Gilles Landry/Radio-Canada)However, her decision also considered the fact that the conflict was not planned, that Glaspy confirmed he has not had a drink since the event took place, and that he expressed remorse and sympathy to Frenette’s family.She also said she does not think Glaspy is a danger to society, and that he is not likely to re-offend.Crown prosecutors Marc-André Desjardins and Patrick Wilbur had sought three to five years in prison.Defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux recommended two years minus one day with time served in the community, which Bourque said she “did not find suitable for Mr. Glaspy.”She said a sentence of less than two years would not adequately deter others from committing similar offences.Security footage of altercation shown to juryJurors were shown security footage of the altercation during the trial, and witnesses broke it down almost frame by frame.Several witnesses testified that Glaspy, who was a patron with his fiance that night, had been drinking heavily, and that Frenette asked Glaspy to leave the pub.Part of the footage showed Glaspy approaching Frenette across the pub floor with his jacket and a drink in hand. A scuffle ensued soon after, and several staff members tried to intervene. Frenette fell backward, hit his head on the floor and was eventually taken to hospital.Medical experts involved in Frenette’s care testified he died of blunt force trauma to the head, and that he had suffered a stroke.Frenette’s family declined to provide comment outside the courtroom Monday, and so did Crown and defence lawyers.ABOUT THE AUTHORKatelin Belliveau is a CBC reporter based in Moncton.
Riverview man gets 3 years in prison for Moncton casino manager’s death
