Hutchinson ? A Hutchinson man who was originally charged with first-degree murder has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after a plea agreement in the beating death of another man during a robbery.

Thirty-five-year-old Vasie Joe Coons was sentenced Wednesday in the April 2010 robbery, beating and strangulation death of 33-year-old Joshua Haines.

The Hutchinson News reports (http://bit.ly/odlmMW ) that first-degree murder charge against Coons was dismissed when he pleaded guilty in April to aggravated robbery and drug possession. He also testified against two co-defendants.

A Reno County judge on Wednesday ordered a nine-year sentence on the drug counts to run consecutively with an aggravated robbery conviction, giving Coons nearly 10 years in prison.