Two men convicted of murdering a Grand Forks father and son almost eight years ago have been ordered to serve the maximum: life without the possibility of parole.
"The evidence throughout this trial indicates that these murders were planned. They were up close, they were personal, they were nothing more, nothing less than executions," prosecutor Jason McCarthy told Judge Lawrence Jahnke at Friday's sentencing in state district court.
In June, Joseph Moncada, 26, and Billy Joe Aguero, 31, were each found guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.
Authorities believe Robert Belgarde, 40, and Damien Belgarde, 19, were shot over a drug debt. Their bodies were found the night of Sept. 7, 2001, southwest of Grand Forks near the end of the gravel extension of 32nd Avenue South.
Friday, Moncada's attorney, Robert Martin, lobbied for a 20-year sentence for his client. Martin asked the judge to consider that Moncada had a rough upbringing and that he'd just turned 19 when the murders occurred.
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Martin said Moncada, who grew up near the Mexican border, was exposed to a culture of drugs and violence when he was young. As early as age 13, Moncada used hard drugs, such as methamphetamine and LSD, Martin said.
Aguero's attorney, David Dusek, argued that his client was less culpable than Moncada in the murders. He pointed to a lack of evidence showing Aguero was involved in buying the gun or ammunition used in the killings. Nor was there physical evidence that Aguero pulled the trigger, Dusek said.
"Based upon these distinguishing factors and testimony heard throughout the trial, we're respectfully requesting that the court sentence Mr. Aguero to something less than the sentence for Mr. Moncada," Dusek said, adding that a 10-to-15-year prison term would be fair.
In response to the defense's requests for sentences lighter than the life without parole the prosecution sought, McCarthy reminded the court of the brutality of the killings, listing the gunshots that struck each victim. Robert Belgarde was shot four times: twice in the left arm and twice in the back. Damien Belgarde was shot seven times: in the back of the head, in the neck, in the left shoulder twice and in the back three times, McCarthy said.
