SAN BERNARDINO - Two wealthy San Manuel tribal members were sentenced this morning to home electronic monitoring and five years probation for their roles in a 2006 murder-for-hire plot.

Stacy Cheyenne Nunez-Barajas, 26, was sentenced to one year of electronic monitoring, and her brother, Erik Barajas, 36, was sentenced to six months as part of a highly publicized case linking the pair to the Mexican Mafia and its role in the methamphetamine trade in the Inland Empire.

The Barajas siblings, both convicted gang members, accepted plea agreements April 17 for conspiring to kill bar manager Leonard Epps on Sept. 30, 2006.

Epps, 37, managed the popular Brass Key bar in Highland during a confrontation with Stacy Nunez-Barajas in March or April 2006, court records say.

San Bernardino police, then investigating the drug activity in the area, learned of the plot and quietly spirited Epps into hiding several days before he was supposed to be shot with a .40-caliber Glock handgun, records say.

This morning, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael Dest warned the Barajas siblings that violating their probation would result in lengthy prison sentences.

She faces 27 years in prison; he faces eight years, their plea agreements show.

"This is not a light sentence," Dest said. "This is not a light plea. The consequences are double digits in years."

Like Dest, attorneys representing the pair defended the controversial plea agreements that have been characterized as too lenient.

"This case wasn't taken lightly by anyone," Deputy District Attorney Douglas Poston said.

Two defense attorneys said the plea agreements were based on facts.

They pointed to detailed Probation Department sentencing reports, made public this morning, which said five years of felony probation was appropriate because the pair would be closely monitored.

"It's really unfounded and unfair what people are saying about Ms. Barajas," said attorney Albert Perez Jr., who is defending Stacy Nunez-Barajas.

Outside the courtroom, Perez declined to say why Nunez-Barajas, contrary to her previous courtroom appearances, was using a wheelchair this morning.

In court, Epps' attorney, Frank Peterson, had the Barajas siblings served with a $50 million lawsuit.

Peterson also read a victim-impact statement which complained about Epps living life on the run while his would-be killers get home monitoring.

"Apparently, my life is worth no more than six months to 1-year probation for the wrongdoers," Epps wrote. "Yet I will continue to be in jeopardy for the rest of my life, however long that will be."

Outside the courtroom, Peterson said Epps refused to appear because of threats to his life and family.

Another defendant convicted in the same case, Salvador Orozco Hernandez, 43, of Bloomington, is identified in court records as a Mexican Mafia drug kingpin who controls the drug trade in the San Bernardino area. He was sentenced in August to 10 years in prison.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration records included in case records say the Mexican Mafia extorts money from several members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, whose members receive at least $100,000 in monthly in royalty checks from its successful casino near Highland.

Reach John F. Berry at 909-806-3058 or jberry@PE.com