WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Five men at the center of deadly 2010 shootings in Washington, some of the worst violence in the nation’s capital in years, have been sentenced to life in prison or sentences that will keep them in prison for decades.

Judge Ronna Beck sentenced the men Tuesday at the end of an emotional court hearing that lasted the entire day. Beck sentenced Orlando Carter, Robert Bost and Jeffrey Best to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sanquan Carter received a 54-year prison term while Lamar Williams was sentenced to 30 years.

More than a dozen family members of the five young people killed in the violence spoke and many urged the maximum sentence for the group.

According to evidence introduced by prosecutors, the violence began in March 2010, when Sanquan Carter attended a gathering at a Southeast Washington home. He called his brother after he couldn’t find a cheap bracelet, encrusted with fake diamonds, that he’d worn and believed had been stolen.

Orlando Carter arrived at the home with Simms and Best. The men were carrying guns, and a shooting ensued during which one person, 20-year-old Jordan Howe, died. Howe’s friends retaliated a day later by shooting Orlando Carter, but he survived.

Orlando Carter vowed revenge and conceived of a plan to kill mourners at Howe’s funeral. Carter and his conspirators missed the funeral on March 30, but the group, which included Best, Bost and Simms, tracked down some of the mourners that night to a gathering on South Capitol Street and fired on them from a rented minivan. The group was also accused of killing another man that day in an attempt to take his gun. Williams was said to have provided guns used in the shootings.

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