Millionaire Gets 9 Years For Deadly Fire Above Tunnels
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- A wealthy stock trader has been sentenced to nine years in prison for his conviction in the fiery death of a man who was helping him secretly dig tunnels for a nuclear bunker beneath a Maryland home.
Daniel Beckwitt had faced a maximum of 30 years in prison when Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schweitzer sentenced him Monday.
In total, Beckwitt was sentenced to 21 years but the judge suspended all but nine years of the sentence.
In April, a jury convicted the 28-year-old of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the September 2017 death of 21-year-old Askia Khafra.
During the trial, a prosecutor accused Beckwitt of recklessly endangering Khafra's life and sacrificing safety for secrecy.
One of Beckwitt's attorneys had told jurors the fire was an accident, not a crime.
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