TAMPA — While a Tampa pastor and his wife were selling religion as a way to get off drugs, three of their adult sons were selling something else: cocaine.

They got caught.

Marvin Jefferson, 47, Shannon Jefferson, 33, and Jimmy Lanier, 37 — each adjudicated guilty of drug trafficking after pleas in June — have now begun to learn their fates in federal court.

The three are the sons and stepson of Deeper Life Christian Church patriarch Melvin B. Jefferson, whose fellow pastor and current wife, Brenda Jefferson, is Lanier's mother.

Lanier, described by federal agents as the leader of a drug-trafficking organization that at times brought cocaine from Texas to Tampa, could face life in prison when sentenced Aug. 12.

Not so for Marvin Jefferson, who initially faced 10 years but left the courthouse Wednesday a free man, in part because he helped authorities solidify cases against his brothers.

Court records say Lanier conspired to distribute narcotics from about 2002 to 2013.

Lanier left Marvin Jefferson for dead after a shooting in a 2007 drug deal in Dallas, prosecutor Shauna B. Hale told the judge. The brothers were trying to buy 10 kilograms of cocaine and lost $100,000 to a robbery, court records state.

The court file alternates between gospel and grit, opening with a federal complaint that details brothers discussing the purity of cocaine and eventually digressing into requests by two defendants to attend out-of-state religious events while on bail.

Shannon Jefferson, a vocalist, flew to Houston to perform at an "Ephesians Conference" shortly after his 2013 arrest. Lanier got court permission to attend a religious service last week with his family in Yorba Linda, Calif., one that featured Smokey Robinson.

Marvin Jefferson, like his father, was once ordained as a minister, according to testimony, but he now works as a prep cook.

His defense attorney, Mark Rankin, told the judge at a hearing in October that Jefferson struggled over cooperating with authorities against his brothers.

"It's caused great hardship for him and a great rift," Rankin said. "He and his wife and family can't go to Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas or do the things that they used to do with their family because he hears cousins and others calling him a snitch."

U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. rewarded him both for helping prosecutors and for getting his life back together since charges were first filed.

Moody had started the sentencing hearing in October. He heard from character witnesses and saw confidential reports about Marvin Jefferson's past and his progress. He postponed a ruling for six months, announ­cing, "I'll see if Mr. Jefferson is still doing what he says he's doing with his changed life."

At the hearing Wednesday, prosecutor Hale told the judge that Jefferson was a pastor's son and knew right from wrong. Even after he was shot in Dallas, she said, he sold drugs back home in Tampa, simply shifting his focus to retail.

Moody noted that the later activity, from 2013, had involved small amounts of cocaine.

The judge sentenced Jefferson to time served (the four months in jail before he was granted bail) and four years of probation.

In so doing, he explained that Jefferson takes care of two kids while his wife works two jobs and goes to school. He said Jefferson has demonstrated that he changed his life.

Prosecutor Hale objected to the sentence, a downward departure from federal guidelines.

Attorney Rankin applauded the judge's use of his discretion and said Jefferson deserves the second chance.

"I feel blessed," Jefferson said.

His father did not attend the sentencing. Contacted by the Tampa Bay Times, he said he doesn't condone such activity.

All three brothers have been out on bond, secured by family real estate holdings.

Since his church's earliest days, the elder Jefferson has offered outreach programs to people struggling with drug addictions, including House of David Help Center, which Marvin Jefferson attended as a condition of bail.

On Deeper Life's website, the parents claim to have delivered thousands from addictions.

Over the years, the church also endured scrutiny. In a 1999 food stamp trafficking case, Deeper Life and five of its members were convicted of felonies. Charges against the pastor and his wife, however, were dropped.

Times news researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Contact Patty Ryan at pryan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3382.