A man accused of shooting and killing a maintenance worker as he was being evicted by police from a Miami Beach condo was sentenced to 45 years behind barsTuesday.
Joseph Richer, 48, was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in the November 2010 shooting that killed Alberto Gomez.
At a hearing Tuesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler-Mendez handed out a 45-year sentence to Richer.
Gomez had just started working at the Royal Atlantic Condominiums and was helping an officer serve an eviction notice on Richer, who was being kicked out of the unit by his father, police said.
As a locksmith picked the lock to the apartment, an angry Richer opened the door and opened fire, police said. Gomez was standing near the locksmith and was hit. Another man was hit in the hand.
One of the officers shot Richer, who was hospitalized for his injuries.
Richer, a former attorney, was convicted by a jury in October, the Miami Herald reported. His lawyer had argued that Richer didn't know who was entering his condo and was acting in self-defense.
