The Newman Lake man convicted in the dragging death of a 20-year-old Seabeck man was sentenced to 27 months in prison Monday.

Wendell Sinn Jr., 45, will spend more than two years in prison and must pay restitution, which includes funeral costs for 2005 Klahowya grad Jerid Sturman-Camyn.

Sinn Jr. faced 21 to 27 months in prison for the second-degree manslaughter charge.

Pend Oreille County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Metzger said Sinn Jr. entered an Alford plea, which meant he did not admit guilt, but believed he would be found guilty if he went to trial for the death of Sturman-Camyn.

Sturman-Camyn, an Eastern Washington University student, died Nov. 24 in Pend Oreille County after being dragged for miles behind a pickup truck driven by Sinn Jr.’s teenage son, Justin.

Sinn Jr. reportedly told his 17-year-old son to get into his 1996 Ford F250 pickup truck, “start it and be ready to leave if things got bad,” according to a Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office news release. Sinn Jr. allegedly placed one end of a rope around the truck’s trailer hitch and the other end around Sturman-Camyn. He then yelled for his son to drive away.

Metzger said Sinn Jr.’s sentencing lasted all day Monday in Pend Oreille County. Both Sturman-Camyn’s family and Sinn Jr.’s family addressed the court and Metzger said it was the most emotional sentencing Pend Oreille County courts have seen in 25 years.

Metzger said before the Alford plea, Sinn Jr. faced second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter charges with aggravating circumstances, which could have carried a much higher prison sentence.

Justin Sinn was not charged in the incident because it was unclear as to whether or not he knew Sturman-Camyn was attached to the back of the truck as he drove off, Metzger said.