"Petty bunkhouse things" that led to a man's death in Unalaska three years ago won't lead to a new trial.
Two men have pleaded guilty to killing their coworker in an alcohol-fueled late-night conflict at a seafood workers' dormitory in Unalaska, avoiding a second trial.
Denison Soria and Leonardo Bongolto Jr. will serve 40 to 70 months in prison for the death of Jonathan Adams, age 55. Adams died after a fight at the Bering Fisheries bunkhouse in 2012.
Defense lawyers described Adams' death as an accident during a trial in Unalaska last September. The jury acquitted Soria, 43, and Bongolto, 37, of second-degree murder, but they couldn't reach a verdict on lesser charges of assault, manslaughter and negligent homicide. A new trial had been set for this month.
But on Friday, Soria and Bongolto pleaded guilty to aggravated, criminally negligent homicide. The defendants could also face probation and suspended jail time under the conditions of their plea agreement.
Soria and Bongolto were reported to be drinking on the night of the fight, Feb. 28, 2012. They've been locked up ever since.
Both men will be brought to Unalaska for sentencing on July 9. Bongolto and Soria had been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault at the Planet Dutch bunkhouse of Bering Fisheries, formerly the Peking Restaurant, on Gilman Road in Unalaska.
"It's not really a fight, it's a beating," said assistant attorney general James Fayette at last year's trial, saying the pair returned to the bunkhouse at about 11:30 p.m. and picked a fight with Adams.
"They woke him and started a fight about petty bunkhouse things" and then punched him and kicked him down the outdoor stairs, Fayette told the jury, displaying photos of the bloody wooden stairs and injuries to Adams' head.
"You can't say self-defense," Fayette said.
Defense attorney Paul Maslakowski, representing Soria, said the defendants were upset with Adams for talking loudly on his cellphone while they were trying to sleep in difficult conditions where 16 workers lived and slept when not processing fish at the adjacent plant.
While Planet Dutch was officially the "day shift bunkhouse," the policy was "routinely ignored," and while day shift workers were trying to sleep, those on the night shift would be up and about inside the living quarters.
"Getting any sleep could be a problem," Maslakowski said.
Alcohol use was reported by the defendants and victim. The defendants had just returned from a nearby bar when they woke Adams.
Medical examiner Gary Zientek testified that the autopsy showed Adams' blood alcohol at .198, more than double the legal limit of .08 for driving, he said by way of comparison.
Defense attorney James Ferguson said the incident did not qualify as either second-degree murder or first-degree assault. He said his client, Bongolto, did not intend to cause serious injury, and called the incident an "unfortunate tragedy."
Ferguson said Bongolto did not act with extreme indifference, as he stayed near the scene and asked a witness if an ambulance had been called to help the unconscious man laying face-down at the bottom of the stairs.
This story first appeared in The Bristol Bay Times/Dutch Harbor Fisherman and is republished here with permission.