Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Man gets 10 years in Thunder From Down Under backstage shooting

Joey Kadmiri Trial Begins

L.E. Baskow

The trial begins Tuesday, July 8, 2014, for Joey Kadmiri, who was beaten by Thunder From Down Under male-revue dancers at Excalibur after allegedly trying to burglarize their locker room.

Joey Kadmiri Trial Begins for Thunder

Joey Kadmiri looks through paperwork's his trial begins, he was  allegedly beat up by the Thunder From Down Under Male Revue dancers after trying to burglarize their locker room Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Launch slideshow »

A Las Vegas man who admitted firing a gun while trying to steal costumes and props from the Thunder From Down Under male revue in March 2014 has been sentenced to 10 to 25 years in Nevada state prison.

Joey Kadmiri told a Clark County District Court judge on Thursday that he used methamphetamine before the backstage shooting at the Excalibur that police said left two show employees with gunpowder burns.

His attorneys, Yi Lin Zheng and John Momot, said the 26-year-old Kadmiri was abused as a child by his father and has continuing mental illness.

Kadmiri pleaded guilty last November to felony weapon, battery and theft charges in the Thunder case — and to battery with a deadly weapon causing substantial bodily injury in a separate domestic violence case.

That case stemmed from allegations that he kidnapped, assaulted, coerced and hit the woman with a gun and confined her to a closet in November 2013.

In the shooting case, Kadmiri admitted sneaking backstage at the Australian-themed men's striptease revue, where police said he was caught by heavily muscled cast members as he picked through belongings in the performers' dressing room.

Two workers were injured including one who police said was struck by debris from a wall after another knocked Kadmiri's hand to the side as he fired a .44 Magnum handgun near the man's head.

Witnesses said Kadmiri was wearing a Sydney firefighters' T-shirt and identified himself as a new cast member when he was arrested. He later told reporters that he needed a disguise because he believed people were trying to kill him.

Kadmiri acknowledged in court that he takes medication to counter diagnoses of paranoia and depression, and he underwent several psychological examinations as judges tried to determine whether he was competent for trial.

Prosecutors said he faked his mental health issues.

Kadmiri stood trial in July 2014 with different defense attorneys on nine felony charges that could have gotten him decades in state prison if he had been convicted in the Thunder From Down Under case. Those proceedings ended in a mistrial after jurors talked about evidence before beginning deliberations.

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