Teen-Ager Given 12-Year Sentence for 1990 Killing : Crime: Joey Paul Bellinger pleads no contest to manslaughter in the shooting of a deaf Palmdale man.

A Long Beach teen-ager who shot a deaf Palmdale man to death after a stoplight confrontation in Granada Hills pleaded no contest Friday to a charge of manslaughter in return for a 12-year prison sentence.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Howard J. Schwab accepted the plea from Joey Paul Bellinger, 19, who had been charged with murdering Cesar Vieira, 30, and wounding Vieira’s brother, Edward, now 27, who is also deaf.

Bellinger, who was 16 at the time, was among a group of youths in a car that stopped for a traffic light at a Granada Hills intersection Jan. 28, 1990, and exchanged glares and insults with the Vieira brothers, who were on a motorcycle.

Both groups pulled into the parking lot of a nearby shopping center, where Bellinger fired several shots at the Vieiras.

If Bellinger had been convicted in a jury trial, he would have faced a maximum sentence of 30 years to life in prison. Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Halpin said the 12-year sentence was reasonable because it may have been difficult to get a jury to render a verdict of murder or manslaughter. A jury trial had been set for June 23.

The judge ordered Bellinger, who has been in custody without bail, to return July 6 for a 90-day diagnostic study by the California Youth Authority. He indicated he would grant a defense request and recommend to prison authorities that Bellinger be allowed to serve his sentence in a youth authority facility rather than a state prison.

Bellinger’s attorney, Ezekiel P. Perlo, said he accepted the plea bargain, even though he thought he could have presented a valid self-defense argument, because he was not sure how a jury would react to a teen-ager carrying a loaded gun.

“You basically trade one in the hand for two in the bush,” Perlo said. “There was probably a greater chance that he would be convicted.

“This is a reasonable disposition.”

Also, it will be easier to obtain parole under a 12-year sentence than an open-ended sentence of 25 or 30 years to life, Perlo said. With credit for time already served, Bellinger will be eligible for parole after serving about four years, according to Perlo.

Bellinger’s parents, Joseph Paul Bellinger Sr. and Phyllis Mary Goodman, could not be reached for comment. However, Perlo said they agreed to the settlement even though they still believe their son shot the two men in self-defense.

After the shooting, the younger Bellinger fled to the home of family friends in Upstate New York with the help of his parents. He was arrested March 2 after an intensive search by Los Angeles police and the FBI.

The parents later pleaded no contest to charges that they orchestrated the escape. Bellinger’s father was placed on probation for three years and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service on the felony charge. He was also ordered to undergo counseling and pay a $1,000 fine.

His mother was sentenced on a misdemeanor charge to two years probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. She was fined $100 and also ordered to undergo counseling.