A prison sentence of four-plus years was given to a 21-year-old man who anguished for more than a year until he admitted to strangling a 64-year-old man while the two were having sex in a west-central Minnesota apartment.

Harley W. Hatch, of Montevideo, Minn., was sentenced last week in Chippewa County District Court to four years and 10 months in prison in the death of Thomas E. Dickson, also of Montevideo, on Dec. 23, 2013, in Dickson's apartment. Hatch pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter.

With more than three months of time already served, Hatch's sentence was cut to roughly 4½ years. He'll be eligible for supervised release after serving slightly more than three years in prison.

Hatch admitted to police in January that he strangled Dickson during a sex act in the victim's Montevideo home.

PAUL WALSH