From Andy Furillo
Two Rio Linda men convicted of voluntary manslaughter for shooting a man to death at a Natomas party two years ago were sentenced to prison today in Sacramento Superior Court.
Anthony Franklin "Bubbles" Pruitt, 22, received a three-year term from Judge Michael W. Sweet as a result of the negotiated plea while co-defendant Gerald Villalobos, also 22, was sentenced to 10 years.
The two pleaded no contest last month to the 1:38 a.m., Jan. 27, 2007, killing of Alejandro Villalobos, 23, who was no relation to the defendant with the same last name.
Relatives of the victims decried the plea in their statements to the court today, saying they believed the two gunmen should have received stiffer prison terms.
Deputy District Attorney Shauna Franklin said a murder case would have been "extremely difficult to prove." She said that one of the victims' two brothers who was with him at the party had pulled out a handgun prior to the shooting and had threatened to kill Pruitt.
Just before he was killed, Alejandro Villalobos had intervened in the dispute between his brothers and Pruitt and had "tried to calm things down," Gilbert Villalobos' lawyer, Al Combatalade, told the court.
Judge Sweet said that "people arming themselves at parties" was "inexplicable" to him that the result in this case was that an innocent person was killed.
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