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Two men have each been sentenced to 34 years in prison for the broad daylight assassination of underworld figure Gavin "Capable" Preston outside a Melbourne cafe. Preston, 50, was waiting to eat breakfast at Sweet Lulu's cafe in Keilor on September 9, 2023 when his killers Jaeden Tito, 25, and Rabii Zahabe, 26, pulled up in a stolen car and gunned him down. The hail of bullets caused unwitting patrons to flee. A jury found the pair guilty of Preston's murder in May, as well as the attempted murder of his friend AJ Maghnie, who was also shot during the attack. Gavin Preston was killed in a shooting as he sat down to eat at a cafe in Melbourne's north-west in 2023. (Facebook) The trial heard Tito and Zahabe had been hired as contract killers by an unknown enemy of Preston, but lawyers for the men argued they were not the shooters. As of today it is still unclear who ordered the killing, which was caught on CCTV. As the men travelled down the Hume Freeway toward Sydney in the aftermath of the attack, one was heard saying "we are brothers now". Zahabe also searched the internet for "no extradition countries" and prayers seeking forgiveness for one's actions. Justice Michael O'Connell said the shooting had been "meticulously planned" and carried out with a "ruthless and callous disregard for the value of human life". "Although Gavin Preston had significant criminal convictions and might well be said to have lived his life outside of the law, it must be made clear that his life deserves the protection and vindication provided by the law, just as anyone else in our community," Justice O'Connell said. He said the public nature of the attack was a "significant aggravating feature" and that it must have been a "shocking and traumatising event" for witnesses, who ran and cowered in fear. They were each sentenced to 34 years imprisonment in total, greater than the standard sentence of 25 years, with Justice O'Connell taking into account the gravity of the offending, the premeditation involved, the financial motive and their high moral culpability. Both men had travelled from New South Wales to carry out the attack. Rabii Zahabe and Jaeden Tito will each spend more than two decades behind bars for their roles in the murder of Gavin Preston. (Supplied) Prosecutors argued for the men to be locked away for life. Tito and Zahabe were granted a non-parole period of 26 and 27 years respectively. Justice O'Connell said the restrictive conditions they were kept under in prison, for their safety and the safety of others, went some way to mitigate their sentences, but stated the men had shown no remorse. They have been declared serious violent offenders and Tito, who immigrated to Australia from New Zealand, now faces the prospect of deportation. Zahabe fidgeted with his suit and closed his eyes at times as the sentence was delivered. Yelling could be heard from the public gallery as Tito was taken away from the court room.Interstate killing was 'meticulously planned', court hears