Two Santa Fe brothers pleaded guilty Thursday to beating and robbing a group of young people during a violent home invasion in December 2007.

Arthur Ortega, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and two counts of robbery, while Isaac Ortega, 23, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and two counts of robbery, said Donald Sears, a prosecutor with the 4th Judicial District in Las Vegas, N.M., who handled the case.

State District Judge Michael Vigil abided by Arthur Ortega's plea deal and sentenced him to four years in prison, of which he will have to serve 85 percent because the law says the offenses he pleaded to are serious violent crimes, Sears said.

Isaac Ortega faces a maximum of 21 years in prison but was sent for a 60-day psychological diagnostic exam and won't be sentenced until that's done, he said. His plea deal calls for Vigil to decide his final sentence, Sears said.

The brothers and two other young men donned ski masks or handkerchiefs and forced their way into an office connected to a residence on West Booth Street on Dec. 29, 2007. Isaac Ortega used a baseball bat to beat two men in the head, causing serious injuries, according to Sears and police. Others at the party of 10 to 12 people also were injured, and the men took less than $500 from them, police have said.

While the other two men implicated in the attack were arrested relatively quickly, the Ortega brothers were on the lam until September, when Isaac Ortega was arrested by police in Henderson, Nev. Arthur Ortega turned himself in to Santa Fe police about a week later.

Aaron Dundas, 19, pleaded guilty in November to burglary, conspiracy and tampering with evidence in connection with the case in exchange for a plea that called for a strict five-year probation term. If Dundas successfully completes the probation — which requires perfect behavior — he won't be a convicted felon. If he doesn't, he will be sent to prison for nine years.

Shalom Katz, 14, pleaded no contest to aggravated battery, conspiracy and two counts of armed robbery in June 2008 and was sentenced to a two-year commitment to the state Children, Youth and Families Department. That sentence, however, was suspended so Katz could attend a Department of Health juvenile treatment center in Albuquerque.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.