Celebrity boxer gets no prison for killing NJ woman in fentanyl fueled crash

⚖️ NJ boxer avoids prison after a deadly DWI crash that killed a woman and disabled her husband
📚 Robert "Bobby" Gunn promoted a book deal while delaying court proceedings for six years
💔 Victims’ family calls plea deal “shameful” and accuse Gunn of exploiting the system

A renowned New Jersey boxer who admitted to being high on fentanyl when he drove his truck into an oncoming car, killing a woman, has avoided any jail time.

On Sept. 28 2019, Robert “Bobby” Gunn, then a Hackensack resident, was driving on a rural stretch of Route 635 that’s also called Daretown Road in Upper Pittsgrove.

His Dodge Ram 3500 crossed into the path of a Hyundai Elantra, killing 51-year-old Polly Tornari, of Glassboro.

"Polly was a loving and caring wife, daughter, sister, niece, and friend to anyone and everyone she met in life," her online obituary said.

The head-on wreck also permanently disabled her husband.

Robert Tornari had to move to an assisted living facility as he cannot live on his own, he tells Fox 29 Philadelphia.

Delays, legal tactics stalled case for six years, prosecutors say

Charges were filed in June 2020.

After a brief alert by State Police, Gunn turned himself in.

The case wore on for six years, during which available evidence weakened, prosecutors said.

Gunn threw multiple rounds of delays at his case, changing attorneys four times in the first two years.

By May 2022, Michal Grasso became Gunn’s defense attorney.

Guilty plea comes with no prison time

In August, he agreed to a plea deal that dropped a second-degree strict liability homicide charge.

He pleaded guilty to third-degree counts and knew he would only face probation.

Boxer promotes book while case drags on

In between court appearances, Gunn had time to make promotional rounds for a book about his life published last year — including on Fox News with Brian Kilmeade.

“Bare Knuckle: Bobby Gunn, 73–0 Undefeated. A Dad. A Dream. A Fight like You’ve Never Seen,” Gunn is on the cover of the best-selling book written by Stayton Bonner.

The project has already also been optioned for a movie, as Deadline reported.

On Wednesday, Gunn was sentenced to four years of probation, 30 hours of community service and that he undergo a substance abuse evaluation and receive any recommended treatment, NJ.com reported.

His driving privileges were also suspended for a year.

Read More: NJ driver accused of being high, speeding in deadly hit and run 

Victim’s family slams Gunn and the justice system

“I now have many physical limitations,” Robert Tornari said in court as NJ.com reported. “How can a just system take six years to come to a resolution and let a killer off?”

Robert Tornari has already voiced his belief that the proceeds from Gunn’s book and potential movie should go to the victims of the deadly crash he caused.

Robert Tornari’s sister also spoke in court, calling Gunn a “coward.”

“I blame the defendant, his attorney and his financial backers for stalling, delaying and abusing the legal system to protect a coward and loser who refuses to take responsibility,” Joyce Prescott said, NJ.com reported.

“This is one of the oldest cases in the vicinage at this point. And with time comes the loss of evidence, comes the loss of witnesses, and the case has certainly grown weaker over time,” Salem County Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Price said in court, as reported by NJ.com.

As of Thursday, it was not clear whether a civil lawsuit might be filed against Gunn.

Research for the book was well underway at the time of the crash.

“For a year, I had been interviewing Bobby Gunn, meeting him in gyms and at work sites in New Jersey, when, one Thursday in June 2012, he suddenly sent an invitation to an upcoming match,” according to a book passage published by Men’s Health in 2024.

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