By Associated Press - Thursday, March 6, 2014

BARTOW, Fla. (AP) - A central Florida man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for fatally stabbing a neighbor.

A Polk County judge sentenced 53-year-old Clarence Montgomery on Thursday. A jury found him guilty of manslaughter in December.

The Ledger of Lakeland (https://goo.gl/tTd6SS) reports that Montgomery killed 41-year-old Louis Matos Jr. two days before Christmas in 2012 during a neighborhood party in Lakeland.



Matos’ wife Felicia testified that Montgomery had threatened to kill her husband four days earlier. She says her husband was trying to collect a debt from one of Montgomery’s friends.

Montgomery said during Thursday’s hearing that Matos had attacked him, and he was defending himself.

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Information from: The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), https://www.theledger.com

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