A transient man who broke the face of a Laramie woman he dated two years ago was sentenced Tuesday to a two-month jail stint, followed by an intensive probation and treatment program — with the threat of six to eight years in prison if he fails the program.
David Wayne Leyba, 61, was also ordered to pay $7,734.85 in restitution for the damages he caused.
Albany County District Court Judge Misha Westby was adamant Tuesday during a sentencing hearing for Leyba that she would not hesitate to send him to prison for those six to eight years if he approached his victim in any way, or through anyone else.
“A violation of this will immedaitely result in an imposition of the underlying sentence of six to eight years,” Westby told Leyba. “Any contact with the victim, her family — seriously — anyone associated with her, (have) absolutely no contact.
“I don’t want you around her house; don’t want you anywhre near where she is.”
Leyba attacked his ex-girlfriend Wendy Budrow in 2023, after their prolonged falling-out and what she described prior to Cowboy State Daily as a monthslong period when she couldn’t get him to leave her home.
He lingered at Budrow’s home in July 2023 after she gave him a chance to collect his things, then he punched her in the face and left her “in a bloody pile,” Budrow said in a prior interview.
Budrow ran outside and flagged passersby, the first of whom happened to be a paramedic.
She said hospital personnel later noted that she’d need facial reconstruction surgery and her sinuses appeared broken, along with her upper palate.
Leyba vanished after the attack.
Budrow spent the next 11 months of her life looking over her shoulder, she said, until Leyba was arrested in Colorado in June of 2024.
Guilty To This
Leyba pleaded guilty in January to one count of aggravated assault after establishing a plea agreement with the Albany County Attorney’s Office.
The prosecutor promised to drop the other two charges of domestic battery and violation of a protection order in exchange for the plea.
The agreement also outlined the split sentence, the threat of prison and the rigorous probation and treatment plan, according to court statements.
Westby had made up her mind to reject the plea agreement when she first read it, she said Tuesday.
But the judge said she chose not to reject it for two reasons: Budrow was in favor of it, according to court statements, and the treatment and probation offered were highly structured and involved.
“This is a chance you’re being given, mostly by your victim, which says a lot about her,” said Westby. “This is a chance … to do the right thing and address your issues, and never allow this to happen again.”
The Plan
Westby sentenced Leyba to one year in jail for the first phase of his sentence, but he gets 305 days’ credit off that for the time he has already spent in jail during his prosecution.
From there he’ll go to in-patient treatment and a probation structure called “drug court,” which Leyba’s public defender David Korman said would help him find a home, a job and a driver’s license.
Leyba was homeless when Budrow met him and she took him in, she said prior.
His supervised probation term is to last three years. He was ordered to pay $4,909.87 to reimburse Budrow for her costs from this crime; and $2,824.98 to reimburse the public victim services department.
Budrow told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that Leyba has incentives to stay “sober, straight, employed, housed, and away from me... He’ll have help available and people watching over him.”
Budrow said she feels good. The sentence isn’t wholly fulfilling but she feels she can get on with her life, she said.
“And I intend to,” Budrow added.
“I wish him good luck, the best possible choices, one last opportunity to be smart and the knowledge that many, many women will likely learn from our long and painful lesson,” said Budrow. “I hope so.”
‘Really, Really Sorry’
Leyba voiced remorse during his statements to the court.
“I just want to say that I’m really, really sorry about what happened. It was random; I didn’t know it was going to happen,” said Leyba. “I can’t take back what happened but I thought about this for a long time… I pled guilty; I wanted to man up to what I did.”
He said he’ll complete the drug treatment program and integrate into society. He wants to get a job and pay the restitution, Leyba added.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
