A judge on Friday sentenced a man to up to 40 years in prison in the killing of a 23-year-old French street artist in Detroit , prosecutors said.
Jasin Curtis , 18, of Detroit , had pleaded guilty in May to second degree murder and was sentenced to 25 to 40 years in prison in the killing of Bilal Berreni , who was found shot dead in 2013 in a vacant high-rise building near downtown Detroit .
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow also sentenced Curtis to two years on a firearms conviction to be served consecutively to the murder sentence, prosecutors said. Both sentences were recommendations from a plea agreement.
Curtis and two other men were charged with murder, armed robbery and firearms violations in Berreni's death, a Paris native who was known by the street moniker "Zoo Project."
Berreni began painting murals in his Paris neighborhood at age 15. Before he went to Detroit , Berreni traveled and painted murals in Tunisia in 2011.
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Police have said the three men were losing money in a dice game when they decided to rob someone and found Berreni nearby. His body was found in July 2013, but not identified for several months.
The trials of Drequone Rich , 21, and Dionte Travis , 18, are scheduled to begin in September. Both are charged with felony murder and other charges.
