A Tucson man convicted of first-degree murder for the killing of a high school student in 2011 will spend at least 25 years in prison.
Jamonte Olague was sentenced on Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison for the shooting death of 17-year-old Carlos Sandoval.
Olague, 21, was also sentenced to seven years for armed robbery. The sentences will be served concurrently.
He was convicted at trial in October.
Sandoval was shot and killed in a botched drug ripoff at a home in Forty Niner Country Club on Tucson’s east side.
Olague was arrested a few days after the shooting.
At trial, Olague’s attorney, Suzanne Crawford, argued her client didn’t know the drug deal would turn into a shooting.
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She acknowledged Olague and his accomplice intended to steal a pound of marijuana from Sandoval, but said another defendant pulled out the gun and shot the victim.
Keanu Deano Castaneda was convicted of first-degree murder in the case in March.
Castaneda, 22, was the gunman in the shooting. Crawford argued he was also the mastermind of the proposed drug rip.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Faten Barakat-Nice argued during the trial that Olague was the critical link in the crime because he had the prior connection with Sandoval and set up the drug deal.
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