Man sentenced in death of former MCI athlete

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Louisville man has agreed to a 12-year prison sentence in the death of a former basketball player at Eastern Kentucky University.

Richard Spellman reached the deal with prosecutors on Monday after a jury found him guilty last week of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Ronnie Griffin, 25. Griffin was found in an apartment with stab wounds and a cord tied around his neck in January.

Police said that Griffin got into an argument with Spellman, who was house-sitting at the apartment.

Griffin, a forward-center, graduated from Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield after spending his first three years at Louisville Central High School.

Griffin also played at Tallahassee Community College in Florida and at the University of Southern Indiana.

– From Staff and Wire Reports