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Lifelong Republican says he can’t vote for Donald Trump for president

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; After hearing from three sisters of Oscar Lozano Garcia&#8217;s victim why he should never be released from prison, Luzerne County President Judge Richard Hughes III on Friday sentenced Lozano Garcia to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2012 killing of his ex-girlfriend.</p><p>Following a four-day bench trial, Hughes on July 1 had found Lozano Garcia, 38, of first-degree murder of in the strangulation death of Maria Brea, 32.</p><p>Prosecutors said Lozano Garcia strangled Brea on Dec. 14, 2012, after she ended their relationship and ordered him to move out of her Hazleton apartment.</p><p>But instead of leaving, Lozano Garcia killed Brea with his bare hands and then meticulously wrapped her body in plastic, bound it with duct tape and locked it in her attic, according to prosecutors.</p><p>Investigators discovered the body four days later, while Lozano Garcia eluded authorities for more than a year before the U.S. Marshals Service captured him in Mexico in January 2014. He was extradited in June 2014, and a charge of criminal homicide was forwarded to county court the following month.</p><p>Wendy DeJesus, Santa Melenciano and Wendy Rodriquez, Brea&#8217;s three sisters, each addressed the court, telling Hughes that they welcomed Lozano Garcia into their life and treated him like family.</p><p>&#8220;With him in jail, our family will finally have peace and Maria will have peace,&#8221; Melenciano said. &#8220;But we will always have pain.&#8221;</p><p>DeJesus said Lozano Garcia has never expressed any remorse for what he did.</p><p>&#8220;He should never be free again,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Rodriquez said Brea was &#8220;a great sister and mother.&#8221; She said her sister&#8217;s brutal death &#8220;broke all of our hearts.&#8221;</p><p>Lozano Garcia insisted on making a statement, despite being advised by his defense team &#8212; attorneys John Sobota and Mark Singer &#8212; that whatever he said wouldn&#8217;t make a difference due to the mandatory sentence attached to his conviction.</p><p>Lozano Garcia apologized to Brea&#8217;s family, asking for their forgiveness, especially from his victim&#8217;s two children, Amber and Justin. Lozano Garcia said he, too, was feeling great pain.</p><p>&#8220;I still continue to love you,&#8221; he told the family through an interpreter. &#8220;Please forgive me. I know the pain I&#8217;ve caused you is great. Please know that I am passing through the same pain you are. Perhaps you don&#8217;t understand the pain I have. I ask your forgiveness. Thank you.&#8221;</p><p>Sobota said Lozano Garcia&#8217;s statement will have no effect on his appeal, which he said will be based on the degree of the offense. Sobota said Lozano Garcia never claimed he was innocent, but that the charge should have been manslaughter, not murder.</p><p>Asked if he was surprised that his client insisted on addressing the court, Sobota said, &#8220;Yeah, a little bit. But it&#8217;s his right to speak. I told him it wouldn&#8217;t be beneficial &#8212; that it wouldn&#8217;t affect the sentence.&#8221;</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Dan Zola said he felt Lozano Garcia didn&#8217;t go far enough when he addressed the court, saying that he never admitted anything and did not apologize to the victim.</p><p>&#8220;I think he&#8217;s just sorry he got caught,&#8221; Zola said. &#8220;I think he&#8217;s sorry he&#8217;s going to jail for the rest of his life. He never admitted he did this crime.&#8221;</p><p>In addition to the life prison term, Hughes ordered Lozano Garcia to pay restitution in the amount of $24,238.13.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Oscar Lozano Garcia is led from Penn Place after his sentencing hearing on Friday. 8/5/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080516Garcia1-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Oscar Lozano Garcia is led from Penn Place after his sentencing hearing on Friday. 8/5/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Lozano Garcia sentenced to life in prison for Hazleton slaying