Federal Hill Bouncer Kevin Weaver Pleads Guilty, Gets Nine-Year Sentence

Kevin Weaver, 42, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and was sentenced March 2, 2026 in Baltimore Circuit Court after a widely shared video showed him putting a man in a chokehold outside Cross Street Public House in Federal Hill. Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams imposed a nine-year sentence with all but five months suspended, and the plea includes probation and court-ordered counseling.

State’s Attorney Ivan Bates called the plea an accountability measure and read a prosecutor’s statement in court. “This guilty plea holds defendant Kevin Weaver accountable for a violent and unacceptable abuse of authority. While we understand the challenges of working security in a crowded bar, those challenges never justify the use of excessive force. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and when someone oversteps that line and violates another person’s rights, there must be consequences,” Bates said. Bates added, “It is nothing short of a miracle that the victim was not permanently injured, and we hope this outcome reinforces that violence - especially by those entrusted with public safety - will not be tolerated.” Bates also said the man seen in the chokehold is “pleased to put this entire ordeal behind (him).”

The assault on Sept. 27, 2025 was captured in a 51-second video posted by Barstool Loyola on X that Banner reported has more than 9.8 million views. The Banner transcript shows Weaver telling the victim “You got to leave,” then grabbing the man identified by Banner as Cameron Barnes and putting him in a chokehold. Onlookers in the clip say, “He’s turning pink,” “He tapped. He tapped. Let him go,” and one shouts, “Yo! Chill out!” The video shows Weaver pushing Barnes headfirst into the window of an SUV parked on the street, breaking the glass, and detectives began investigating two days later, interviewing Barnes.

Weaver turned himself in to police on Oct. 1, 2025 and was initially denied bail, according to WBAL. Hoodline reports Weaver spent roughly five months in the Metropolitan Transition Center after he surrendered in October. Court filings and reporting indicate the plea requires anger management therapy and three years of supervised probation, with Hoodline adding that the plea includes abstaining from drugs and alcohol during probation.

Cross Street Public House told WMAR it had employed Weaver through a contracted security company and later severed its partnership and placed an immediate ban on Weaver; Banner identified the contractor as Ace Event Services Group. The man shown in the video has sued the security guards, the company and the bar, and Hoodline and Banner report those civil lawsuits remain active and could produce damages or settlements.

Outside the courtroom, Hoodline reported Weaver’s father Bob Lessick said he was “glad the case is over.” Sources differ on practical custody implications: WMAR and WBAL summarize the formal sentence as nine years with all but five months suspended, which would ordinarily leave a five-month jail term, while Hoodline and Banner report the plea credits roughly five months Weaver already spent in custody, meaning no further jail time is expected beyond that credit.