Three Regina men were handed penitentiary terms today for beating a 16-year-old boy to death with a hammer in the spring of 2011.

There were gasps in the courtroom as the sentence was delivered.  The family of Delano Toto was not happy.

The man that wielded a hammer killing Toto was Charlton Jonathon Rope. He was sentenced to 12 years. His accomplices were Terry Shawn Smoke, who got seven years — and Bobby Lavallee, who was sentenced to nine years.

All three were originally charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The attack took place May 11th in North Central Regina.

There was an altercation between the men and a group of others, including Toto, earlier in the evening. The three men then waited in hiding outside a house, ready to attack the first person who came out. That person was Toto. All three attacked him with makeshift weapons including a hammer and all three were extremely drunk at the time.

Prosecutors say they are satisfied with the sentences.