One of Tucson's most infamous murder cases may finally be over.
Martin Soto-Fong was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences Tuesday, nearly 14 years after authorities say he and two other men walked into a South Side market and gunned down three people.
Soto-Fong, 31, will have to serve 75 years before becoming eligible for parole for the June 1992 murders of Fred Gee, 45; Gee's uncle, Huang Zee Wan, 75; and Raymond F. Arriola, 32.
Soto-Fong was convicted for his part in the El Grande Market slayings and sent to death row in 1993. However, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the death penalty for juveniles last year and Fong, who was four months shy of 18 when the slayings took place, was granted a new sentencing hearing.
With the death penalty off the table, Pima County Superior Court Judge Clark Munger had only to decide whether Soto-Fong's life sentences should run concurrently or consecutively. He ran them consecutively, meaning he will have to serve 25 years on each sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
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Before the sentence was announced, Soto-Fong took the opportunity to apologize to the victims' families, but again proclaimed his innocence and disdain for the former prosecutor and detective who handled his case.
"I can't say I totally understand how the legal system works, but I remain hopeful the high court will review my case" and overturn the convictions, Soto-Fong said.
Richard Gee, Fred Gee's younger brother, said Soto-Fong has essentially won.
"They prevailed because he's off death row," Gee said. "If his family wants to see him, all they've got to do is go to prison and kiss and hug him on visitor's day. If I want to go see my family, I've got to go to the graveyard and hug their gravestones."
The El Grande Market case ended up on the front pages more often because of the actions of the lead prosecutor and detective in the case than the crime itself.
The Arizona Supreme Court disbarred two-time prosecutor of the year Ken Peasley in May 2004 after the State Bar filed a complaint claiming Peasley elicited false testimony from Joseph Godoy, a former Tucson police detective, during 1993 and 1997 trials involving the case.
The state's high court found that Peasley allowed Godoy to falsely testify that Christopher McCrimmon, Andre Lamont Minnitt and Soto-Fong weren't suspects before a key witness interview, but police actually had investigated them earlier.
Peasley, who worked as a lawyer in Pima County for more than a quarter-century and served as chief criminal deputy county attorney before retiring, said he made honest mistakes during the trial because of overwork and health issues.
Minnitt's conviction was overturned and McCrimmon was eventually acquitted. In Minnitt's case, justices wrote a scathing opinion that said Peasley "engaged in extreme misconduct" that was "grossly improper and highly prejudicial" to Minnitt and the criminal-justice system.
Soto-Fong's repeated attempts to have his convictions overturned have failed. According to authorities, the former store employee's fingerprints were found on one of two food stamps lying next to Gee's body and two plastic bags lying on a countertop.
Peasley and Godoy, who retired from the Tucson Police Department after being indicted on perjury charges, now work for defense attorney Brick Storts. The perjury charges against Godoy were later dismissed.
