Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Rocky Mount police officers sit in the courtroom in support of fellow officer Jason Maxey, who was killed.

Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Brooks Ryan Leisure sits with his lawyer, public defender Rachel Jackson, during Monday's hearing in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor driving under the influence.

The Roanoke Times

Confronted by what a prosecutor called "overwhelming evidence," an Ohio man accused of causing a wreck that killed an off-duty Rocky Mount police officer pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor driving under the influence.

Brooks Ryan Leisure, 26, will be sentenced May 28 in Roanoke Circuit Court for his role in the Oct. 11 head-on collision that killed Jason William Maxey. He faces a maximum possible imprisonment of 21 years for the convictions on both crimes.

Leisure's hearing contained a startling revelation. As Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell detailed the evidence in the case, he introduced lab results that showed Maxey was also driving while intoxicated the night of his death.

According to Caldwell's presentation, Leisure came to Roanoke from Ohio two weeks before the crash. Both the Isuzu Rodeo and the cellphone he used the night of the wreck belonged to someone else.

That night, Leisure first went to All Sports Cafe on Grandin Road in Roanoke, where he drank three "bong waters," a mixed drink that includes five separate shots of liquor, as well as some beer.

He then went to Awful Arthur's at Towers Shopping Center, where he drank more bong waters, which at that restaurant include four shots per drink, and more beer.

Leisure left the bar to go to a friend's house, and although his friend's mother told him he was too drunk to drive, he insisted he was fine and left, Caldwell said.

Toxicology tests showed he had a blood-alcohol content of about 0.19 percent at the time of the crash, and that he also had marijuana in his system that night, Caldwell said. Leisure used the cellphone he had to send text messages to another person about the quality of the marijuana, the prosecutor said.

At 1:55 a.m., witnesses saw the Isuzu Rodeo turn off Colonial Avenue and go the wrong way up an exit ramp that leads down from southbound U.S. 220. One witness tried to get his attention as he drove up the ramp, and a northbound truck driver who saw the Isuzu driving north in the highway's southbound passing lane also tried to get him to stop.

As the truck driver kept pace with the Isuzu, he could see that Leisure was alone in the vehicle, Caldwell said.

Three southbound vehicles passed Leisure before the Isuzu collided almost head-on with Maxey's Chevrolet Malibu in a curve between Elm Avenue and Franklin Road. Both vehicles were likely moving at more than 60 mph, Caldwell said.

Maxey, 34, died in the crash. He was off-duty at the time. The Malibu was his personal vehicle.

A toxicology report showed that Maxey had also been drinking. He had a blood-alcohol content of 0.09 percent, Caldwell said. The legal limit in Virginia is 0.08 percent.

Caldwell said after the hearing that it was unclear whether Maxey's alcohol level contributed to the crash. Because of the curve of the road, Maxey likely would not have immediately realized that the oncoming headlights from the Isuzu were in his own lane, the prosecutor said. "It was just Mr. Maxey's bad luck."

During Maxey's six years with the Rocky Mount Police Department, he built a reputation as an eager and aggressive officer. He received an award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving in 2006.

In December, MADD held a fundraiser in Rocky Mount in his memory called "Tie One On for Safety."

Caldwell called the off-duty officer's blood-alcohol content ironic and said it "underscores the pervasive nature of the problem. Clearly if Officer Maxey used bad judgment ... he paid the ultimate price."

Rocky Mount police Chief Erik Mollin said after the hearing that he would not comment on the case until after Leisure's sentencing.

Caldwell said prosecutors have not made any deals with Leisure as to what his sentence will be. "I don't think he wanted to put this in front of a jury."