A 27-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced Thursday for a fatal shooting during a 2012 drug deal in St. Paul.

Durron L. Brown was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court to nearly 22 years in prison for killing Marcelis L. Stafford, 21. Brown was credited for the more than 1½ years he has already spent behind bars.

Brown pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. He had been indicted on two additional counts of first-degree murder after he rejected an initial plea deal in 2012.

According to court documents, Brown shot Stafford on June 2, 2012, in a parking lot behind the Hillsberry 94 Apartments on Ruth Street off Interstate 94. Brown was in the back seat of a car with Stafford at the time.

The two argued, and Brown announced, "This is a robbery." Brown shot at Stafford and his brother, but the brother was not hurt.

A woman who knew Stafford told police he was planning to sell a quarter-pound of marijuana to someone for $1,350.

NICOLE NORFLEET