A 27-year-old Mexican national was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 33 years for the Aug. 14 shooting death of a longtime Canton cabdriver.Raul Benitez-Maranon stood before the bench in shackles and red-striped jail clothes and addressed the court through a Spanish interpreter.He apologized at the beginning and end of his remarks to the family of the 61-year-old taxi driver, Jerry Laury, who was shot to death after he dropped off Benitez-Maranon in New Franklin at the South Main Street apartment of his girlfriend.In the most dramatic moment of the sentencing hearing, Summit County Assistant Prosecutor Brian LoPrinzi described the scene of the shooting as Laury — who had done Benitez-Maranon a favor by trusting him — waited in his cab for the fare.Laury was shot at least eight times with a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, according to police and autopsy reports, when Benitez-Maranon apparently felt that Laury made an insulting remark to his girlfriend. “After he unloaded the gun on him,” LoPrinzi said, “he hit him with the gun in the back of the head as he was slumped over dead.” Laury’s family members, who nearly filled the courtroom — some sitting in the Jury box — gasped.“Oh Jesus, Jesus,” one woman said quietly, sobbing as she spoke.Benitez-Maranon said he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs and did not set out to kill Laury that night.“I hope one day [you] will forgive me for what I’ve done, and that God will forgive me for what I’ve done,” he said through the interpreter.Benitez-Maranon had pleaded guilty earlier this month, giving up his right to a trial on the day the jury was to be selected, to one count of aggravated murder and a gun specification.In exchange for his plea, an additional charge of murder and a firearm specification were dismissed.Common Pleas Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer, who handed down the sentence, told Benitez-Maranon he must serve 33 years in a state penitentiary before he is eligible to appear before the Ohio Parole Board.If he ever is released, Stormer said Benitez-Maranon would be deported to another country immediately.The judge directed most of her remarks to the family, telling them she could feel how they deeply loved and respected Laury and how close he was to them.“That is a man,” Stormer said, “to celebrate.”She urged the family not to allow Benitez-Maranon’s actions to dictate how they live the rest of their lives.“He is alone. You have each other,” Stormer said.The victim’s sister, Joanne Laury, spoke about how hard Laury had battled illnesses in the final years of his life.“My brother fought a kidney transplant and open-heart surgery. He fought it all, and I thought I had a little more time with him, but you took that away from me,” she said as she stood only a few feet from the defendant in the front of the crowded courtroom.She told Benitez-Maranon that she has come to forgive him.A co-owner of the Yellow Cab company for which Laury worked, David Harmon of Canton, sat side-by-side with his family members in the jury box.He, too, addressed the court, saying he had known Laury for 35 years, that he was a good man and an even better friend.Afterward, Harmon said Laury left the cab company years ago to chase his dream of owning his own trucking rig, only to be forced into giving it up when his kidney disease worsened.“Jerry called me after that and asked if he could come back and drive a cab,” Harmon said, “and I told him: ‘Sure, you’ve got a lifetime job with me.’ ”Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.