Erik Kravchuk Sentenced In Head-Butt Death Of Medtronic Scientist Aleksandre Sambelashvili
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Golden Valley man will spend nearly a decade in prison for fatally head-butting a Medtronic scientist at a downtown Minneapolis bar in 2019.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says Erik Kravchuk, 30, was found guilty in September of unintentional second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter for the death of 42-year-old Aleksandre Sambelashvili. He was sentenced to just more than eight years, which is about four years less than the recommended sentencing guidelines.
Their deadly encounter happened on the early morning of July 28, 2019, during a private gathering. Surveillance footage from the bar shows Kravchuk suddenly attacking Sambelashvili, who then falls to the floor, hits his head and is knocked out.
Sambelashvili, a father of two from Minnetonka, died about a month later from a brain injury.
Medtronic officials said in a statement in 2019 that "many patients with cardiac problems have been restored to better health and lived longer lives" due to Sambelashvili's work with the company.