CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Convicted hockey dad, Thomas F. Junta sat handcuffed, his head hung low, as his victim's mother and sons spoke at his sentencing hearing Friday.

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Michael Costin's family asked Middlesex Superior Court Judge Charles Grabau to send Junta to prison for as long as possible, while Junta's lawyers pleaded for leniency for the man convicted of beating Costin to death at a Reading, Mass., ice arena after a youth hockey practice in July 2000.

NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that Junta's attorneys were looking for probation or a very short jail term, followed by extended probation. The state was looking for extended time in jail.

The judge listened to both sides, including testimony from Costin's children, and ultimately came down on the side of the state's recommendation.

Before doing so, he heard from the Costin children about their loss.

"I can still remember being hysterical, trying to wake him up as the blood streamed down his face. Rushed to the hospital in the ambulance, my father had stopped breathing and had no pulse and his heart stopped beating. After two days in the hospital I realized I had just witnessed my dad literally getting beaten to death," Brendan Costin said.

"The doctor came out and told me and my family that my dad was dead. Right there I knew that my life would never be the same. My life hasn't been the same. He's just not there anymore. I miss him even now. Not 10 minutes goes by that I don't think of him. I talk to him at church and before I go to bed, but it's just not the same," Michael Costin said.

Junta, 44, wept when his attorney, Thomas Orlandi, read the letter that Junta had written to his 17-year-old daughter while he was in jail.

"If you're reading this letter, that means that I lost my case. I want to tell you how much I love you, how proud you have made me in the 17 years since I first saw you. I will miss you very, very much, but every night I will say 'Goodnight, honey-bunchy, I love you.' And every morning I will say 'Good morning, honey-bunchy, I'll be thinking of you,'" Orlandi read.

After hearing both sides, Grabau said that he found there were aggravating circumstances surrounding Costin's death, including the fact that the beating took place in front of children.

He also said he was troubled by letters he had received from Junta's defense regarding Costin's troubled past that, he said, attempted to make the "victim the culprit."

"These references cheapen the value of human life," Grabau said, adding that he was also "disturbed by the disingenuous description of Junta's character," during the trial.

"I recently learned that the July 5 incident was not the first time that Mr. Junta struck another adult in front of children," he said, referring to a restraining order that Junta's wife had taken out against him in the early 1990s.

He also said that trial testimony had made it clear that Junta "did not act in self-defense" when he beat Costin at the ice arena.

"I find that the commonwealth's recommendation to be lenient and most generous. I contemplated exceeding the commonwealth's sentence recommendation, but have decided not to. After consideration of these factors, it is ordered that Thomas F. Junta serve a committed sentence of six to 10 years at MCI Cedar Junction," Grabau said.

Following the sentencing, Junta's brother John said that the court should have allowed evidence about Costin's past into the court record.

"They never allowed Michael Costin's record to come in. The guy was violent right up to just before the incident. He beated up his own kids and they had a tape of it from the father. He had a whole history of violence, beating up cops and his ex-wife and everything else. So, my brother ... it was definitely self-defense. The guy was a lunatic," John Junta said.

Costin's family expressed satisfaction with the verdict.

"We believe justice has been served. Our prayers will be with the Junta family and our family will try to move beyond this tragedy," Costin's sister Mary Barbuzzi said.

The sentence means that even with best behavior, Junta would not be eligible for parole for five years.

Legal analyst and retired judge Robert Barton said that the sentence was appropriate and the state's recommendation was very fair. He said Junta's verdict appeal will go up to the state appeals court, and the sentence appeal will go to the appellate division of the Superior Court, which consists of three judges, but he said they will probably not touch Grabau's sentence, which he characterized as "cast in stone."