Sullivan pleads guilty, agrees to meeting with victim’s mother To avoid retrial in a 2006 murder case out of Pacific Beach, Michael David Sullivan pleaded guilty Feb. 25 to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of Jonathan Lefler-Panela, 25, who died outside a PB restaurant after they were both thrown out by security personnel. Sullivan, 31, was immediately sentenced to nearly 14 years in state prison by San Diego Superior Court Judge Frank Brown. Sullivan, who has spent five years in custody, agreed to waive all of his credits as if he never served those years. He also pleaded guilty to transportation of marijuana and cocaine possession. Sullivan will have to serve 85 percent of the 13-year term, and he waived his right to an appeal of the sentence. Sullivan was convicted of second-degree murder in 2007 and was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. The Fourth District Court of Appeals overturned that conviction and sentence in 2010. The victim’s mother, Judith Lefler, requested a private meeting with Sullivan to ask him questions about why he killed her son. Sullivan agreed to the meeting, and Brown cleared the courtroom so only sheriff’s deputies and the victim’s mother and sister could talk openly with Sullivan. “The purpose was to talk to him face to face to understand what happened that night,” said Lefler afterward, who added she thought Sullivan had remorse. “I just needed to talk to him.” Shortly before Lefler’s mother talked to Sullivan, Sullivan’s mother hugged her in the courthouse hallway. Lefler-Panela lived in the Mission Bay area and was a Navy veteran who worked on helicopters. Sullivan, a Pacific Beach resident, started the fight by punching Lefler-Panela in the face at Sam’s by the Sea restaurant at 4315 Ocean Blvd. on Jan. 8, 2006. They were both ejected, but the fight resumed outside. The restaurant paid a $495,000 settlement to the victim’s family after being sued for negligence. The restaurant was later sold. According to trial testimony, Lefler-Panela took off his shirt and fought with Sullivan, who said he was hit and kicked numerous times. Sullivan was on the ground with Lefler-Panela on top of him, and Sullivan testified he pulled out his pocket knife and stabbed Leflr-Panela repeatedly. Judith Lefler said Sullivan told her he would not have pulled out his knife had he not been on the bottom. The victim was stabbed between 14 and 17 times, according to court records. The two men were strangers. “He told me there was no history between them,” said Judith Lefler. Brown said Sullivan was not a member or associate of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang. The appeals court ruled that Brown erred when he allowed the prosecutor to question a friend of Sullivan about Sullivan’s interest in the motorcycle gang. The appellate court also found that Brown erred in a jury instruction after an alternate juror replaced an ailing juror. “He was an incredible bright light in our lives. He’s missed every day,” said Judith Lefler about her son.