2 Mount Vernon men sentenced to prison for murder

Published 4:35 pm Thursday, January 26, 2012

MOUNT VERNON — Two Mount Vernon men have been sentenced to a combined half-century in prison for killing another man in a robbery gone awry.

The Skagit Valley Herald reported that 20-year-old Agustin Alaniz was sentenced Wednesday to 29 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

Authorities say Alaniz fired the gun that killed 36-year-old Jose Villalta of Bellingham during the May 2011 robbery.

Also sentenced was 18-year-old Sergio Farias, who got more than 19 years in prison.

Previously, two others, 30-year-old Susana Gonzalez and and 18-year-old Alberto Fernandez-Solis, pleaded guilty in December and were sentenced to about 10 years and 8 1/2 years, respectively.

Authorities say the woman lured Villalta into an apartment where the men were waiting to rob him.