Woman sentenced after man found dead under concrete, newly-constructed deck

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Rhode Island woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in the death of a Massachusetts man whose body was found buried under newly poured concrete behind her home.

Michelle Morin was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to charges of conspiring to commit assault with a dangerous weapon, felony assault, and failure to report a death in the May 2015 killing of 60-year-old Domingo Ortiz, of Worcester.

Prosecutors say Ortiz had been drinking with Morin and others in the Burrillville home when there was an argument and Ortiz was killed.

The house belonged to Morin and her boyfriend at the time, Steven Pietrowicz, who was also charged, MassLive.com reports. Ortiz was reportedly a longtime acquaintance of the couple. His body was found in a hand-dug hole covered with fill, large rocks, a layer of cement and built over with a newly constructed deck, according to the website.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dropped a murder charge against Morin.

Two others were also charged in the death of Ortiz, a father of five. They await trial along with Pietrowicz.