A former Marion County Sheriff's Office deputy has been sentenced to over two decades in jail for the fatal shooting of his girlfriend in 2024. As reported by WESH, Leslie Boileau Jr., aged 33 at the time of the incident, was handed a 25-year, 8-month, and 20-day sentence by Judge Timothy McCourt, a period signifying the exact age of the victim, Polina Wright, when she was killed.
According to details from the trial, Boileau and Wright were cleaning his firearms when the tragedy occurred. Boileau told authorities that he had dry-fired the semi-automatic rifle once without incident, but the second attempt to supposedly demonstrate its operation tragically ended Wright's life. A probable cause affidavit cited by ClickOrlando records Boileau's own shock in the aftermath, saying, "I know this looks really bad. I told her I did not want this to happen (...) I did not want to train her in the (expletive) house like this."
Immediately following the incident, Boileau, who had spent eight years as a deputy sheriff, was terminated from his position. In the courtroom, State Attorney Bill Gladson underscored the severity of the situation, stating, "This case reiterates the very real consequences of negligence and reckless actions," and applauded the sentence for holding the offender accountable. The former deputy faced charges of manslaughter by use of a firearm, an offense carrying up to 30 years in prison, as reported by WESH.
