PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A judge has sentenced a Rhode Island man to serve 40 years in prison for beating a junk car dealer to death with a two-by-four over a deal gone wrong.
On Friday, 51-year-old Daniel Lastarza, of Providence, was sentenced in Superior Court to 50 years in prison with 40 years to serve for second-degree murder.
Prosecutors say the July 2014 altercation that led to the death of 33-year-old Jonathan Stack started as an argument over a bogus sale at Stack’s North Providence car dealership that involved Lastarza and another man.
Prosecutors say Stack and his employee confronted Lastarza’s friend at a Providence bar. They say the altercation moved outside and Lastarza struck Stack and his employee with a two-by-four.
Lastarza’s lawyer argued that Lastarza was trying to protect his friend.
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