COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — A judge sentenced Giovanni Mendiola to at least eight years in prison Wednesday in the killing of a man prosecutors say headed a lucrative marijuana smuggling operation.
First District Judge John Mitchell imposed an indeterminate life term for Mendiola’s guilty plea to second-degree murder in the death of Brendan Butler.
Under Idaho law, that means Mendiola, 33, of Lake Forest, Calif., will be eligible for parole after eight years. But if the parole board so decides, he could end up serving life in prison.
Mendiola apologized tearfully and said the killing was accidental.
Butler, a 20-year-old honors student, was strangled and stabbed to death Oct. 11, 2002, in a remote area near Hayden Lake, Idaho.
Mendiola is a brother of University of Washington women’s basketball stars Gioconda Mendiola and Giuliana Mendiola. They both testified at the sentencing.
UW women’s basketball coach June Daugherty and members of her team were among those who sent letters in behalf of Giovanni Mendiola, Mitchell said.
He was described as a nonviolent, caring "big brother" to many younger people inside and outside his large family.
Investigators were led to Mendiola through numbers on a cell phone found on Butler’s body. Prosecutors claimed that Butler hired Mendiola and others as "muscle" to intimidate and rob rival drug dealers.
Kootenai County prosecutor Bill Douglas had asked for a fixed sentenced of 12 1/2years. Public defender John Adams had sought a six-year fixed term.
Mendiola was originally charged with first-degree murder. He said he pleaded guilty to the lesser crime in order to save two younger brothers from longer prison sentences.
Public defender John Adams said he advised Mendiola to reject the plea agreement and go to trial, but Mendiola wanted to protect other members of his family.
Piero Mendiola, 31, Eddie Mendiola, 34, and 31-year-old Antonio Garcia, a brother-in-law, were sentenced to up to four years last month after pleading guilty to being accessories to a felony.
The plea agreement also removed prosecution threats to indict the sisters, Adams said. Giovanni Mendiola lived with his sisters in Seattle when Brendan Butler was killed.
Douglas and investigators have said the Mendiola sisters were not involved in any of their brothers’ illegal activities.
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