Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja also credited the time already served by Blas at the Department of Corrections facility since his arrest on Nov. 19, 2008.
Upon release from prison, either on parole or expiration of his jail sentence, Blas will be placed under 20 years supervised release.
The court directed the Attorney General’s Office to work with the victim’s families to determine restitution within three months.
Naraja required Blas to pay a $2,000 fine that can be converted to community work service, a $100 court assessment fee, and a $2,000 probation fee.
Naraja sentenced Eric Rabauliman to a 26-year jail term on Jan. 6, 2011.
The jury trial of the third defendant, Randy Igisomar, starts on May 2, 2011.
The three beat to death Ballesteros with a PVC pipe, an iron rebar and a 2×2 wood on Nov. 17 or 18, 2008, the prosecution said.
The victim’s wallet containing $300 cash was stolen, along with his wristwatch, the prosecution added.
Afterward, the defendants stole laptops belonging to MHS, the prosecution said.
Blas and Igisomar were both 16, while Rabauliman was 18, when they were charged and arrested for the crime.
During the sentencing hearing yesterday morning, Blas’ court-appointed attorney Bruce Berline said the original plan of the group was to burglarize
MHS “to get more drugs,” and not to kill Ballesteros.
Drugs are a problem in the community, Berline pointed out.
He described his client to be a “good person, but bad things happened to him.”
“He is not a bad person, an evil person, a terrorist. He is a neglected child by his family, by the community, by government programs, federal assisted programs,” the lawyer said.
“As a community,” he added, “we need to accept responsibility.”
Berline said his client and his co-defendants were on drugs when the crime was committed.
He said his client was exposed to several risk factors without protective mechanisms.
When he was in 3rd grade, Blas was included in a “child study class,” but this “fell by the wayside,” his lawyer said.
Blas, then-13 years old, was determined to be a special education student, Berline added.
In 2006 or 2007, Blas found himself in the juvenile court system, his lawyer said.
Berline warned that there will be “more juvenile crimes if we don’t do something.”
He asked the court to sentence his client to 22 years imprisonment.
Blas, for his part, asked for forgiveness for what he did, from the court, the victim’s family, his family and the community.
He said he started smoking marijuana at the age of 12, after his grandfather died.
Blas was raised by his grandfather. It was not disclosed what happened to his parents.
Blas said he was 14 when he started smoking “ice.”
Before announcing his judgment, Naraja acknowledged the mitigating and aggravating factors cited by Berline and Assistant Attorney General Brian D. Gallagher who prosecuted the case.
Naraja noted that the victim was sleeping when he was attacked by the defendants.
It was a “sad date for everyone,” according to the judge.
In response to Berline’s claim that the “system” failed Blas, Naraja said: “We continue to do our best to improve it.”
The Superior Court, he added, cannot perform a psychiatric or psychological evaluation of a defendant.
“We do not have that. It’s a failure in our system as well,” said Naraja, who added that court will address this problem.
Gallagher argued for the imposition of the 27-year maximum sentence.
He noted that the crime in question was not committed by government agencies, referring to Berline’s “failure of the system” argument.
