KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A suburban Kansas City man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a failed home-invasion drug robbery that left three people dead and a fourth wounded.
Kevin M. Finley, 36, of Independence, will be sentenced to 27 years in federal prison without parole for conspiracy to possess more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and using a firearm to kill two people.
In a plea deal entered Thursday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Finley admitted that he and co-conspirators drove to an Independence home in the early morning hours of Nov. 16, 2012, with the intent of stealing 3 pounds of methamphetamine from the residents.
Finley said that upon arrival, he and Raul Soto, 24, of Kansas City, Kansas, violently pistol-whipped 20-year-old Antonio Hernandez and another person in a shed behind the house, then dragged Hernandez into the home and demanded drugs and money from the occupants.
When the occupants denied having any drugs or money, Finley and Soto opened fire, killing Hernandez, his mother, Maria Guadalupe Hernandez-Corona, 48, and her boyfriend, Martin Dominguez-Gregorio. Maria Hernandez's 12-year-old son was hit by gunfire but survived.
Finley admitted killing Dominguez and Maria Hernandez; Soto admitted in a July 2014 plea deal that he killed Antonio Hernandez.
Soto was sentenced in November to 27 years for conspiracy and using a firearm to kill a person.
Police said in court documents that Antonio Cervantes III, 34, of Independence, who was Dominguez's stepson, had bragged to Finley that he once robbed Dominguez of $30,000 and "3 pounds of ice."
Cervantes went to the house but fled the scene before the beatings in the shed. He pleaded guilty in September 2014 to conspiracy to possess 50 grams or more of meth.
Carlos Zambrano Jr., 29, of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty in September 2014 to the same conspiracy charge. He admitted that he provided Finley with a handgun used in the shootings and drove Soto and Cervantes to the Independence home.
Prosecutors said Finley and Soto talked about shooting Bobbi Jo Phillips, 39, of Independence, who had driven Finley to the home and witnessed the shootings, but Zambrano told them to leave her alone. A conspiracy charge against Phillips was dismissed in June 2013.
Six others pleaded guilty to helping destroy evidence or failing to inform law enforcement about the planned robbery.