For this discussion question, I want you to assume the role of a judge who is sentencing a defendant for the crime of Reckless Homicide. This charge carries a range of two to eight years. You can suspend any portion of the sentence or order the defendant to serve all or any portion of the sentence in prison. The defendant is a 28 year old man, married with two small children. He has plead guilty to Reckless Homicide without a specific agreement on the sentence. The facts are that the defendant shot and killed a man who was also armed. The defendant is the son of a well-known Russian Mafia leader. The defendant has no criminal record. The police were called to the scene of a restaurant where the defendant had shot the decedent (the dead guy). The decedent had a long criminal record and the police believed he worked for the Vietnamese mob that was trying to make inroads into the territory controlled by the Russian Mafia. The decedent was found with a gun with a silencer on it at the time of his death. The defendant testified he has never been a part of his father's organization, but decided early on in life to lead a law-abiding life. He claims he shot the man because he was there to kill him, as a message to his father from the Vietnamese mob. The police believe the defendant was part of the Russian Mafia at one time, but admit they do not have any evidence of his involvement in the last five years. The government is arguing for an eight year sentence to prison. The defendant's lawyer is arguing for a totally suspended sentence, arguing the defendant acted reasonably in killing the decedent before he killed the defendant.
What sentence do you impose and why?