WORCESTER -- A Fitchburg father and son were sentenced Wednesday to three to five years in state prison after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to charges related to the August 2011 beating and strangulation death of a California man.
Reinaldo Andino-Colon, 54, and his son, Reinaldo Andino-Benitez, 24, both of 174 Meadowbrook Lane, Fitchburg, each pleaded guilty to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of misleading jurors, police officers and prosecutors, according to Timothy Connolly, spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. .
Three other counts each of accessory to murder after the fact were dismissed at the request of prosecutors, he said.
Judge Janet Kenton-Walker also gave Andino-Colon and Andino-Benitez three years of probation following their release from prison, Connolly said, and as well as credit for the 391 days they've been held in jail.
Connolly said the plea change was a surprise on Wednesday, and that it was not a plea agreement or deal. The pair's attorneys had recommended two to three years in state prison followed by three years of probation, while prosecutors had recommended five to seven years in state prison followed by three years of probation, he said.
Alex Ortiz-Rivera, 32, of South Gate, Calif., had been staying with the father and son in Fitchburg at the time of his death. He was found dead Aug. 19, 2011, barefoot and without identification, his larynx punctured and crushed, in a sandpit near the Fitchburg Airport.
Andino-Colon and Andino-Benitez allegedly paid Edward J. Ortiz, 20, of Dorado, Puerto Rico, $5,000 to help kill Ortiz-Rivera so they could steal 9 pounds of marijuana and $8,000 in cash he'd had in their home.
Ortiz fled to Puerto Rico afterward, where he was arrested last March and waived extradition to be returned to Massachusetts.
He is awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court for related murder and unarmed robbery charges. He pleaded not guilty July 27.
Story and Photo: http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com
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