Three days shy of the one-year anniversary of their crime, two defendants who traded information for mercy in the slaying of a Pueblo cab driver were sentenced on Monday.

Getaway driver Matthew John Koncilja, 25, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, the maximum under his plea agreement.

Daniel Montoya, 18, was handed a 20-year suspended prison term. Montoya will be required to successfully complete the Youthful Offender System prison program, where he will spend the next six years. Otherwise, the full adult prison term kicks in.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to reduced charges of aggravated robbery and vowed to testify against three co-defendants charged with murder for the Oct. 30, 2007, shooting death of Pueblo cab driver David Chance.

Chance, 52, was found dead from a shotgun blast to the back of the head while his cab idled in the driveway of 1525 E. 11th St. Also charged with aggravated robbery and first-degree murder for Chance's death are Olin Ferrier, 22; Maximo Daniel Ramos, 19; and Raymond Terrones, 17. They are scheduled to face trial in January.

Prosecutors contend the group was on a robbery spree to round up drug money. Based on statements from Koncilja and Montoya, detectives believe Ferrier, a soldier stationed at Fort Carson, was the triggerman.

Before imposing the sentences, District Judge Victor Reyes heard from Chance's family as well as those of the defendants.

Roger Chance, the victim's brother, vented about "the cowards who shot an unarmed man in the back"

and chided them for "treating someone I loved as prey."

"No matter how much time they spend in prison, whenever they get out, I will still be mourning my brother," he said.

"My brother was trying to do the right thing, trying to earn a living, unlike (the defendants)," said Chance's sister, Debbie Griglio. "Our family now has a permanent empty chair."

Chance's widow, Darla Chance, said the brutality of the crime didn't allow for a viewing at her husband's funeral. After her husband left for work on that tragic night "I never laid eyes on him again," she said. "I never touched him again."

Mrs. Chance said the news so stunned her that she hardly remembers that night, except the questions that she and their children were left to ponder.

"We know the who and the how now," she said. "But we still don't know why."

Homer Chance, the victim's father, traveled from Michigan to Monday's hearing. In his late 80s and barely audible, he told the court simply, "I miss him very much."

Koncilja's father and Montoya's mother both offered sympathy to the Chance family, but asked for leniency for their own children.

Forensic psychiatrist Mark Diamond described Koncilja as mentally ill and plagued by delusional thinking.

Koncilja had spent 10 days in the Parkview Medical Center psychiatric unit around the time of the killing. He'd been out just two weeks when Chance was slain. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and manic traits.

Among his troubled thoughts was the idea that he had a twin who'd been separated from him at birth, a belief he clung to even beyond his stay in the psychiatric ward.

"Matthew was kind of embarrassed by it, but it came out that he believed he was the double of Justin Timberlake, and that (Timberlake) was going to save him from this legal situation," Diamond testified.

Despite his occasional departures from reality, Koncilja "knew what he was doing . . . as far as who he was with, that he was driving the car and what they were after," Diamond said.

Koncilja's lawyer, Guillermo Garibay, told the court that his client would be vulnerable in prison because he's been labeled an informant and suffers from mental illness that's not severe enough to have him placed among the criminally insane at San Carlos prison. He'd most likely land in the general population.

Garibay reminded the court that Koncilja's statements to police led to the crime being solved.

In a brief statement to the court, Koncilja apologized to the Chance family.

Prosecutor Jim Bentley of the El Paso County district attorney's office is handling the case. The local district attorney's office stepped aside because Koncilja's grandfather, John Koncilja, holds the post of chief investigator at the local office.

Bentley asked for the maximum sentence for Koncilja and got it.

"It's clear to me . . . that you were well aware what was going on," Judge Reyes told Koncilja.

He blasted Koncilja for staying silent for two weeks while a shocked community feared for its safety. Koncilja told police about the crime only when they confronted him about it.

Reyes ordered an evaluation to determine whether Koncilja is fit for placement at San Carlos.

At the conclusion of Monday's hearing, Koncilja's grandfather and Roger Chance shared a private conversation and a long, tearful embrace in the courtroom.

The judge had less room to move in Montoya's sentence. His plea agreement specified the terms, although Reyes had the option of rejecting it.

The youth prison term will afford Montoya a chance to get his life on track, according to his lawyer, William Griffin.

"I'm not going to make up any excuses for what I did," Montoya told the judge. "And I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it hasn't been on my mind since I've been in jail. There's nothing I can say that will bring (Chance) back. But I can say I'm sorry.

"I'm not asking for forgiveness, because I don't deserve it."