SportsCenter this morning featured a piece on the Mendiola family saga.

One of the story's slightly silly angles focused on Giovanni's nobility for taking the fall. In his jailhouse interview, he explained that his brothers had wives and girlfriends but he didn't, so he agreed to take the long sentence.

The crime reporter who covered the case for the Spokesman Review once told me that the whole case gave him the impression of a bunch of guys who had watched too many mob movies. It was as if Brendan Butler and the Mendiolas were trying to act out The Godfather (but weren't really smart enough to pull it off). Giovanni's statements today gave me the same impression.

Still, it was a pretty good report. If you're interested in more Mendiola case posts, see here, here, here, here, and here.