A Duluth man was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday for his role in the 2019 shooting death of Timothy Nelson.
Christopher F. Boder, 32, was convicted of second-degree aiding and abetting murder last month following a jury trial.
Authorities say Nelson was shot and killed by Boder and James M. Peterson as retaliation for an attempted robbery following a drug deal in September 2019. Nelson was 33 and had five children.
Peterson, also charged with second-degree aiding and abetting murder, will face trial in March.
According to charges, Nelson dropped off a woman to buy meth from Boder in West Duluth. Nelson later approached Boder, flashed a BB gun and demanded money.
Later that night Nelson and Boder confronted and shot Nelson, who died in the early hours of Sept. 22, investigators say.
Boder's attorneys had asked for a reduced sentence — about 10 years — as "the entire case presented by the state proved that Mr. Peterson shot Mr. Nelson," court filings say, and Boder was "defending himself."
St. Louis County prosecutors wrote in a filing that Boder's actions consisted of "providing the weapon, identifying the intended victim and luring that victim to the desired meeting spot. … The jury found there was evidence of this intent beyond a reasonable doubt in reaching its guilty verdict."
