Darius Koklas, 37, was sentenced to from four to 20 years in prison in 5th District Court after agreeing to plead guilty to a single charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Koklas was arrested last August for shooting his brother, Derek Koklas, twice with a shotgun while at the residence where he, his brother and his mother lived.

He pleaded not guilty to an original charge of murder but entered into the plea agreement literally minutes before his trial was set to begin.

Tom Gibson, Koklas' defense attorney, asked Judge John Davis for probation or at least less than the maximum 20 years the state was requesting, pointing to several mitigating factors including the victim's relatives also advocating a less severe sentence.

"Whenever a person is killed, the guidelines support the maximum sentence," Gibson conceded. "In our case, this was a domestic violence situation which got out of hand and a person was unfortunately killed."

Gibson pointed out Koklas had no prior criminal record, "has had a pretty good life up until this unfortunate incident," and the full support of a family that was in attendance at the courtroom.

"You're not going to hear crying individuals grieving for the death of the deceased, you're going to hear the family members of the same individual arguing for probation and a lenient sentence," Gibson said of the family members in attendance.

Koklas addressed the court as well.

"I would just like to thank everyone that supported me through this and I'm sorry that this incident happened," he said.

Prosecuting for the district attorney's office, Joseph Muckleroy staunchly stood by the state's recommendation, emphasizing the fact that a death had occurred.

"This involved a man, Derek Koklas, who was shot and killed," Muckleroy said. "Two shotgun blasts, Judge, one through the neck and one through the back."

"The court has read the various letters that have been produced suggesting probation would be more appropriate," Davis said. "However, this is a case involving a firearm, and firearms are inherently dangerous implements, and based on the factual setting of this case I think the sentence proposed by the Department of Probation and Parole is completely appropriate."