More than 40 friends and family of a Rocklin teenager killed in an episode of drunken driving last summer filled nearly half a courtroom Thursday to watch a judge sentence the man responsible for his death to 10 years in prison.
"We will be growing old without our Matt," the parents of 19-year-old Matthew Jacob George said in a statement read to the court following a 20-minute video montage that recounted their son's life and times.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Larry Brown told the family, "I can't imagine all that you're going through, have gone through, and will go through."
Then he sentenced Jacinto Roy Mendoza, 21, a member of the California National Guard, to 10 years in prison. Under a plea deal worked out between Deputy District Attorney Caroline Park and defense lawyer Larry Pilgrim, Mendoza can get out in five years if he exhibits good behavior in prison.
Mendoza stood silently throughout the sentencing hearing.
His father, Kenny Mendoza, said in an interview, "He recognizes that he messed up bad."
The elder Mendoza said his son is deeply sorry for the death of George.
George was killed on Aug. 13 when as many as eight people jammed themselves into a car driven by Mendoza after the crowd of young people had been drinking that day at Paradise Beach along the American River.
The car was so packed that George rode in the trunk. He was thrown out of the vehicle and killed when Mendoza crashed on Highway 50.
Mendoza's blood-alcohol level registered at 0.15 when it was taken several hours after the crash, according to his lawyer.
George's parents, Lonnie and Kimberly George, in their statement to the court described the sentence as only a "hiccup" in Mendoza's life. But Park, the case prosecutor, told the court Mendoza earned the sentencing break because he had no prior record, was serving in the military and had agreed to the no-contest plea early in the process.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141. Follow him on Twitter @andyfurillo.
• Read more articles by Andy Furillo
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.