CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A man who beat to death another father in front of their children at a youth hockey practice was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison Friday for involuntary manslaughter.
Thomas Junta, 44, had asked to be put on supervised probation with community service. He had faced up to 20 years.
Junta sat handcuffed, with his head hung low as victim Michael Costin's three sons, sister and mother spoke.
"Please punish Thomas Junta and do not allow him to soon get out of prison and ruin another family's life," Costin's middle son, Michael, said. "No matter how much of a sentence that you give to Thomas Junta, my dad got more."
The judge went along with the recommended sentence from prosecutors, though he called it "lenient" and "generous" and said he even considered exceeding it.
Prosecutors have called Junta a bully, while his supporters have described him as a devoted husband and father who fell victim to "a very bad set of circumstances."
Junta did not speak during the hearing and called no witnesses on his behalf.
He sobbed heavily as his defense attorney, Thomas Orlandi Jr., read segments of the letters Junta had written to his two children while the jury deliberated his conviction.
Orlandi also read from a letter from another young hockey player named Garrett who witnessed the fatal beating in July 2000 at an ice rink in suburban Boston.
 "Quinn needs his dad more than anything. ... Tom didn't mean for any of this to happen. ... Please don't punish Tom for something he didn't mean and didn't want to happen," Orlandi said, reading from Garrett's letter. The two men had fought after Junta objected to rough play during a pickup hockey game in July 2000. Costin was supervising his three sons, Junta's son and several other boys on the ice.
The jury found that Junta did not intend to kill Costin, but went too far during the fight.
Before being lead away Friday, Junta raised his shackled hands to blow a kiss and wave to his family seated behind him. Barbara Tracy, his sister, sobbed uncontrollably and had to be comforted by other siblings.