A New York man was sentenced Monday to one to 15 years in prison for his role in the slaying last fall of a Kentucky truck driver at an I-15 rest stop.
Timothy Michael Miller, 24, of Le Roy, N.Y., was sentenced by Judge J. Philip Eves after he pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder, said Beaver County Clerk Paul Barton.Tracy Eugene Smith, 21, a co-defendant in the case, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of James G. Bray. He was sentenced in November to life in prison.
Bray was shot in the head inside a restroom at the Pine Creek rest area, about 18 miles north of Beaver, said Sheriff Ken Yardley.
Earlier, authorities believed robbery to be the motive for the slaying, but that assessment changed after cash was found in the victim's breast pocket.
John Christiansen, Miller's attorney, said he was hoping for a lesser sentence in the case. He said sentencing was stayed on a firearm charge that could have added a additional five years to Miller's sentence.
"I think he (Miller) expected the sentence because it is the same as the one recommended in the presentence report," he said.