Rhode Island

Man Gets Life in Prison for Fatal Beating of 78-Year-Old Man

gold-trimmed wooden judicial gavel over shadow of bars.
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A Providence man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a 78-year-old man during a 2013 home invasion.

Leopoldo Belen was sentenced Thursday in Providence County Superior Court. Prosecutors say Belen and Joel Valdez broke into a third-floor apartment in Providence and had assaulted a resident when Delor “Dean” Cabral, the owner of the apartment, rushed upstairs to respond.

The defendants were accused of throwing Cabral to the floor and stomping on him before fleeing. Cabral died of the injuries nearly a month later.

Belen was scheduled to go to trial later this month but changed his plea to no contest.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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