Convicted double-murder defendant Roderick Washington, 19, was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences and 30 years in prison in the 2006 slayings of Jeffrey and Alexis Sosa in Cape Coral.
Washington, one of 10 defendants in the case, was found guilty of two counts each of first-degree murder and kidnapping during his retrial last week. A Lee County jury found him guilty in May of two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, but deadlocked on the remaining charges.
Witnesses in Washington’s trials testified he held the Sosas at gunpoint as they were tied, beaten and tortured in the home of co-defendant Kemar Johnston. He later helped carry them to the trunk of a car, which was used to transport them to a Cape Coral industrial site where they were killed, the witnesses said.
Washington has 30 days to appeal the sentence, handed down by Lee Circuit Judge Thomas Reese this afternoon.
Washington’s mother, Lashun Washington, said he will appeal the ruling and will attempt to retain the council of his lawyer, Paul Sullivan.