Man sentenced to prison for his role in 2006 shooting death

Brandon Christopher Wallace, who hung out with known gang members and ended up contributing to the shooting death of another young man, was sentenced to prison Monday.

Both Wallace and Anthony David Milligan were present at a party on Sept. 17, 2006, in Murray where another man, Marcello Cecala, 25, was shot in the heart while driving away.

Stephanie Cecala, the victim's wife, tearfully told the judge that the couple's young son asks where his father is every night before bedtime.

"I tell him, 'He's in heaven,' and he says, 'Can we go get him?' " Stephanie Cecala said, sobbing.

Wallace should have known better, she said. "When you act out in violence, it's not going to end in peace."

Third District Judge Paul Maughan sentenced Wallace to one to 15 years behind bars for manslaughter and also imposed the same sentence for another charge of robbery. Both are second-degree felonies.

The judge ordered that the sentences run consecutively.

Wallace, 25, whose gang nickname is "Chaos," originally was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, but was given a plea deal in return for his cooperation. He testified against Milligan, his gang buddy who is known on the streets as "Tony Montana," presumably after the Cuban gangster played by Al Pacino in the film "Scarface."

Police said Cecala's car was hit at least nine times with bullets from a 9mm handgun, and five bullet slugs were removed from the vehicle.

Wallace's defense attorney, Manny Garcia, said Monday that Milligan had told Wallace "he was going to have to put his name on this," in reference to the slaying of Cecala. However, Garcia said it was Milligan who killed Cecala, not his client, and that Wallace had no idea that Milligan was going to start shooting that night.

Milligan, 22, has already been sentenced to prison for this and other crimes and has a different murder charge pending in 3rd District Court with a trial scheduled for September.

Wallace told the judge that he had cooperated with law enforcement officials because he wanted to do the right thing.

"I'm remorseful," he said, adding he realizes that his actions that night caused Cecala's death even though Wallace did not actually pull the trigger.

"I feel real bad," Wallace said.

However, Angela Deherrera, the deceased man's mother, expressed doubts about Wallace's claims of remorse and questioned why her son was murdered. "I don't know why they had to do this to him. There are just bad people out there and they just take everyone's life, innocent life," she said.

Turning to Wallace, she announced: "All I can say is, may God forgive you for what you did to my son."

Amy Borgholthaus, Cecala's sister, said the senseless killing "took a beautiful person off this earth" and left an enormous circle of family and friends grieving. "I hope Brandon pays for that for the rest of his life."

Cody Olson, the victim's nephew, said in court that his uncle had no gang connections.

Outside the courtroom, Olson said the prison term Wallace got "was a little weak," but this sentencing at least provides some relief for the family because the case had been dragging on since 2006.

"The coward is gone," Olson said. "That's all we care about."

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com