10 years in prison for killing

Published 10:40 pm Tuesday, July 14, 2009

EVERETT — Dennis Brockman once helped send Carl Mattos to prison.

Now Mattos is going away again but this time Brockman is dead.

Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss on Tuesday sentenced Mattos to a decade behind bars for Brockman’s 2006 beating death.

Mattos, 48, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree manslaughter. As part of a plea agreement, Mattos admitted he killed Brockman and also agreed to a 10-year prison sentence, the maximum under the law.

“No one deserves to die the brutal death that Dennis Brockman died,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Bonnie Tweten said.

Mattos admitted he punched and kicked Brockman. He has denied that he intended to kill the Lynnwood man.

Federal authorities reviewed the killing as a potential death-penalty case after learning that Brockman provided information during an investigation into illegal gun sales that helped send Mattos to prison for a couple of months

There wasn’t enough evidence to proceed with the charge, Tweten said.

Tweten told the judge the only solid evidence she had was the grudge Mattos had against Brockman. There was little else to go on.

Tweten planned to use the testimony of co-defendant Adam Ulanowski to prove Mattos killed Brockman. But Ulanowski changed his version of events numerous times, calling into question his credibility as a witness, she said.

Ulanowski pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Ulanowski was expected to testify that he saw Mattos beat and choke Brockman during an apparent robbery at the man’s Lynnwood mobile home.

Weiss acknowledged that Ulanowski’s testimony was critical to the prosecutor’s case.

Mattos faced decades behind bars if he’d been convicted of first-degree murder.

Mattos declined to speak at Tuesday’s hearing.

His attorney, Marybeth Dingledy, told Weiss her client was taking responsibility for his actions.

“I know that he is extremely remorseful about what happened and would like to apologize to Mr. Brockman’s family,” Dingledy said.

Weiss said he may not know exactly what happened during the killing but he is certain Mattos and Ulanowski were both there when Brockman was “savagely beaten.”

“Certainly you were there and could have stopped it if it wasn’t you” who was beating him, Weiss told Mattos.

He agreed that Mattos deserved the maximum sentence.

Ulanowski is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 17.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.