A 21-year-old ex-Marine convicted along with his cousin in the shooting death of a Long Beach man in an apparent dispute over a drug deal was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Long Beach Superior Court Judge Mark Kim imposed the term -- plus an additional 5 1/2 years -- on Trevor Glenn Landers, who was convicted July 2 of first-degree murder in the Sept. 9, 2007, slaying of David Pettigrew.
Landers' 22-year-old cousin Anthony Vigeant, also a former Marine, is set to be sentenced Aug. 17.
Along with the murder, both men were convicted of residential burglary and attempted robbery. Jurors found true the special circumstance allegations of murder during a residential burglary and murder during an attempted robbery.
A third former Marine, Ramon Hernandez, 25, pleaded guilty April 22 to murder and admitted that he personally used a firearm in the commission of Pettigrew's shooting death. He testified against Landers and Vigeant and is still awaiting sentencing.
Pettigrew was killed as a result of an apparent drug deal gone bad in which Vigeant's laptop computer had been put up as collateral or payment for cocaine that was not delivered, authorities said.
Pettigrew was found dead in his apartment in the 600 block of Temple Avenue after maintenance workers conducting routine repairs at the complex noticed his door ajar and discovered his body.
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Landers, Vigeant and Hernandez -- who were stationed at Camp Pendleton at the time, but are no longer in the Marine Corps -- were arrested about three weeks after the killing. They have remained jailed since then.
The jury that convicted Landers and Vigeant was the second to consider the case against Landers, with jurors in his first trial deadlocking 10-2 in favor of guilt on the residential burglary and attempted robbery charges without taking a vote on the most serious charge of murder.
