They were charged for the murder of an American woman inside her home but last week a jury was hung on that charge and instead convicted 38-year-old Carlos Grancillo of burglary and 20-year-old Rene Morentes of aggravated burglary. Today both men were sentenced before Justice Troadio Gonzalez.
Both Morentes, who is a Guatemalan national, and his attorney Hubert Elrington made pleas for leniency to Justice Gonzalez. In the end, Morentes was given the minimum sentence for aggravated burglary - 10 years.
Grancillo, a Salvadoran, along with his attorney Linsbert Willis also made pleas for leniency. For his burglary conviction, Justice Gonzalez sentenced Grancillo to 7 years in prison.
Mary Jane Blondell was killed inside her home located on a secluded farm off the Hummingbird Highway on July 25th of 2004. Her body was found in a shallow grave about 200 yards from her home. She had been stabbed twice to the neck. Police believe the motive for the murder was robbery.
Last Thursday, after 5 hours of deliberations, a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the charge of murder against Morentes and Grancillo. Justice Gonzalez declared a hung jury.
The case was prosecuted by deputy DPP Cheryl Lynn Branker Taitt. The DPP's office plans to re-file murder charges against the two and they should be retried in the next session of the Supreme Court which starts in June.
