Published Friday, 22 May 2009
Four men were given life sentences for beating the teenager, from Ballymena, Co Antrim, to death in May 2006.
The minimum terms ranged from 10 to 13 years and the McIlveen family said this was not enough.
A spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service said: "I can confirm that the DPP has referred the sentencing in relation to the murder of Mr McIlveen to the Attorney General."
The Attorney General will consider whether the case should be referred to the Court of Appeal on the basis that the sentences were unduly lenient.
Catholic Mr McIlveen, known to friends and family as Micky Bo, was punched, kicked and beaten with a baseball bat in an alleyway after a row involving a group of Protestant teenagers.
A fortnight ago chief constable Sir Hugh Orde told the Policing Board he wanted the sentences re-examined.
Aaron Wallace, 21, of Moat Road, Ballymena, Christopher Kerr, 22, of Carnduff Drive in the town, and Jeff Lewis, 20, of Rossdale, also in the town, were found guilty of his murder.
At the start of the trial, Mervyn Moon, 20, of Douglas Terrace, Ballymena, pleaded guilty to the murder. It was he who used the baseball bat to attack the teenager.
They were sentenced to life imprisonment, but the highest minimum tariff - the time to be served before being considered for release - was handed to Kerr, who the judge said had shown no remorse for his actions.
Wallace and Lewis were given 11-year tariffs.
Lewis was also given an additional one month in prison for a charge of criminal damage.
The court gave Moon credit for his timely plea of guilty and because he had shown clear and genuine remorse for his actions. He was given a 10-year minimum tariff.