Teens Sentenced For Selling Crack Cocaine Two Sold Drugs From Front Porch Where Girls Were Shot To Death

Two Spokane teenagers who continued selling crack cocaine even after a double murder on their front porch must serve more than five years in federal prison.

Eric Denny, 18, faces five years and 10 months in prison, and Ganyn Matthews, 19, will serve five years and three months.

U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle on Wednesday gave the pair prison terms that are substantially lighter than sentences recommended by federal prosecutors.

When they were first indicted, Denny and Matthews each faced the prospect of serving a minimum of 10 years in prison for simultaneously possessing drugs and firearms.

They avoided the mandatory-minimum terms by striking plea bargains with prosecutors.

When both are released from prison, each must complete five years of supervision by federal parole officers, who can order drug tests and spot searches.

The teenagers pleaded guilty last January to distribution of more than five grams of crack.

The high school dropouts sold the dope last Halloween to a police informer who struck the deal at Denny’s Hillyard house, where two girls were shot to death last summer.

Denny’s younger sister was wounded in the gang-style, assault-rifle shootings on Aug. 9.

The drug deal on Halloween was consummated in a North Division motel where hidden police video cameras taped Denny and Matthews trading their 19.8 grams of crack for two handguns and $1,150.

“I realize I made a lot of mistakes in my life, but this was the biggest,” Denny said, choking back tears. “Nobody else is to blame for what happened.”

His attorney, Public Defender Judy Clarke, convinced the judge to depart from the standard sentencing range of 84 to 105 months in prison.

Such departures from federal sentencing guidelines are automatically reviewed by an appeals court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice recommended that Denny, who played football for Rogers and Ferris high schools, serve 92 months in prison.

The prosecutor said Denny has an “extremely abhorrent criminal history.”

In less than two years before his federal drug arrest, Denny was arrested and convicted in Juvenile Court for possessing cocaine, assault and theft, Rice said.

The teenager got only a few days in custody after each conviction.

Clarke said Denny was the product of an abusive upbringing and suffers from attention deficit disorder. She urged the judge to give Denny a shorter prison sentence tailored “with hope.”

Rice recommended Matthews be sentenced to 70 months in prison. The teenager’s attorney urged the judge to set the term at 60 months.

Since his arrest, Matthews has completed his high school equivalency degree in jail.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Map of neighborhood where crack was sold