Federal prosecutors are seeking life sentences plus a mandatory 60 years on gun crimes for a Wyoming man convicted of murdering a Pryor couple who had stopped to help him and assaulting their daughter along the road in 2015.
Jesus Yeizon Deniz Mendoza, 20, of Worland, Wyoming, is set to be sentenced on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Billings.
Mendoza’s defense attorney is recommending Mendoza be sentenced to four days for the assaults plus the mandatory 60 years saying that would be a “fair and just sentence.”
Mendoza pleaded guilty in March to two counts of second-degree murder and other crimes for the July 29, 2015, killing of Jason Shane, 52, and his wife, Tana Shane, 50, and wounding their daughter, Jorah Shane, 24.
In addition to the murder counts, Mendoza pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of using a firearm during crimes of violence.
The gun counts carry mandatory consecutive prison sentences totaling 60 years.
A plea agreement calls for first-degree murder charges to be dismissed at sentencing if U.S. District Judge Susan Watters approves the deal.
The prosecution had said earlier it would seek life sentences on the murder counts and maximum sentences on the other crimes.
The life recommendation exceeds a sentencing guideline range of about 19 years to 24 years for the murder and assaults. A life term is the maximum prison penalty for second degree murder.
Last year, the U.S. attorney general decided, after an extensive review process, not to seek the death penalty in the Mendoza case.