A man who swung a baseball bat while his accomplice fired a fatal bullet during a 2008 home invasion robbery in Salt Lake City was sentenced Friday to six years to life in prison.
Arthur V. Spencer, 20, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated burglary for his part in the slaying of Julio Balderrama on April 18, 2008.
Third District Judge Deno Himonas ordered the terms to run consecutively.
Himonas last year sentenced the triggerman, 22-year-old Juan Anthony Padilla, to 15 years to life after he pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder.
Carissa A. Hyde, 20, who drove Padilla and Spencer to and from the robbery scene, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony burglary.
Hyde, who testified at a preliminary hearing she had no idea the two were planning a robbery, was sentenced to 36 months of probation, 20 days in jail and 300 hours of community service.
Padilla and Spencer kicked in the door of Balderrama's home in the belief he had a large quantity of drugs and money, according to charging documents and preliminary hearing testimony.
Spencer hit Balderrama with a baseball bat. Padilla shot him in the chest during a struggle. Padilla then pointed the handgun at Balderrama's 19-year-old daughter and asked, "Where's the weed?"
The woman allegedly brought a small cooler containing several ounces of marijuana from a bedroom; the intruders fled with the drugs. Balderrama died in his daughter's arms.
The victim's wife, Tina Balderrama, on Friday told the judge Spencer always comes to court "with a smirk on his face ... You let the people at [the Utah State Prison] wipe it off his face."
Spencer apologized, saying he did not mean for Balderrama to die. "But by my actions, he did die," Spencer said, adding, "I will work to be a better person and change my life."
