Two Mexican men were sentenced Friday each to five years in a U.S. prison for their roles in a boat-smuggling attempt near Torrey Pines State Beach last year that resulted in the deaths of two undocumented immigrants.

The two victims, Marbilia Mejia, 18, of Guatemala, and José Ortiz, 34, of Mexico, were among 20 immigrants who were aboard a 26-foot fishing vessel that capsized as it was approaching the beach in stormy weather.

Ortiz drowned trying to save Mejia. Neither was wearing a floating jacket and both left two-year-old children .

The deaths were the first known maritime smuggling fatalities in San Diego County and highlighted the increased frequency of this type of smuggling near the California coast.

The two men sentenced, Fernando Figueroa Rodríguez, 51, and Javier Jiménez Yucupicio, 46,

were involved in another failed boat-smuggling attempt just days before the Jan. 16, 2010 accident, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said. The two men and their human cargo were found stranded on a boat in international waters, he said.

Braverman argued for longer sentences for each man, saying it would send a stronger message "to dissuade others from engaging in this type of behavior."

Braverman identified Jiménez as the pilot of the fishing vessel, popularly known as a panga, and Figueroa as his assistant. Their attorneys, who argued for shorter sentences, said their boat capsized after a rope got caught on the propeller and the engine stopped.

U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller said the men should have been more aware of the dangers since they had been rescued from a boat just days before.

The two men tried smuggling people on a boat again because they would not be paid unless they were successful, according to one of their lawyers.

Both were described as farmers and fishermen, from Los Mochis in Sinaloa state, who were recruited to be smugglers. Figueroa was to be paid $2,000, according to his lawyer. He has a wife and six children and had been earning $35 to $75 a week, he said.

It was unclear how much Jiménez was to be paid. Both men said when it was their turn to speak in court that

they were sorry for their actions and would not return to the United States after they complete their sentences and are deported.

Leonel.sanchez@sandiegored.com