Pair sentenced in SB `Dead Presidents' case
Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/10/2008 10:00:12 PM PDT


SAN BERNARDINO - More than eight years after gunfire outside a
Westside duplex left four people dead and others wounded, two men
were sentenced to death by lethal injection for their roles in the
attack.
Luis Alonzo Mendoza and Lorenzo Inez Arias, who are part of the so-
called "Dead Presidents" case, were sentenced Wednesday in San
Bernardino Superior Court.

After more than two hours of arguments over last-minute defense
motions, Judge Michael A. Smith sentenced the pair and ordered them
transported to San Quentin State Prison.

"Good luck to each of you, Mr. Mendoza and Mr. Arias," said Smith
before concluding the court proceedings.

In addition to being sentenced to death for the four murders, the
defendants also received prison time for the two attempted murders.

Mendoza received 75 years to life in state prison for the attempted
murders, while Arias got 50 years to life, lawyers said.

The pair of defendants are likely to undergo many years of appeals
and legal challenges before being executed in California.

Mendoza, 32, and Arias, 29, were part of a four-person armed group
that fired gunshots at friends and fellow gang members outside a
duplex on West Vine Street in July 2000, according to San Bernardino
police.

Those who died were: 33-year-old Johnny Agudo; his brother, Gilbert
Agudo, 27; Anthony Daniel Luna, 23; and Luna's half-brother,
Marselino Gregory Luna, 19.

Family members of the victims