KALAMAZOO, MI -- A former Western Michigan University basketball player will spend several years in prison for an armed robbery that led to the death of a fellow WMU student.

Joeviair Kennedy, 21, was sentenced to 17.5 years to 40 years in prison for armed robbery and a consecutive two years in prison for felony firearm. For the firearm sentence, he received credit for the 19 months he already has served in jail.

Kennedy in June was found guilty of armed robbery and felony firearm but not guilty of murder and a second felony firearm charge in the Dec. 8, 2016, shooting death of Jacob Jones.

Jones, 19, was gunned down in his apartment at SoHo apartments on Howard Street near the university's campus. Jones died nearly instantly from the gunshot to the face, a medical examiner testified in trials for Kennedy and his co-defendant, Jordan Waire.

Investigators said Kennedy set up the robbery by asking to buy three grams of marijuana from Jones, then later upping the amount he requested. Minutes later, Waire and Kennedy burst into the apartment, with their faces covered -- Kennedy was wearing a hoodie pulled tight over his face to conceal his long dreadlocks, and Waire wore a bandanna over his nose and mouth. Waire hit Jones in the face with the gun, which shot him in the face, killing him.

Waire is serving life in prison for first-degree murder. Kennedy testified at Waire's preliminary examination that it was Waire who pulled the trigger. Investigators connected Kennedy to the crime after finding his phone at the apartment.

"The loss to Jacob Jones' family and friends is enormous," Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Paul J. Bridenstine said before sentencing Kennedy. He said Jones' four friends who were in the apartment at he time of the robbery and shooting suffer tremendous loss and continue to struggle gaining balance in their lives.

Bridenstine called the robbery and shooting "senseless, cowardly and irrational."

Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Reisterer asked Bridenstine to sentence Kennedy to at least 30 years in prison, which is the sentence Bridenstine gave Waire on the armed robbery conviction.

Kennedy's defense attorney, Eusebio Solis, said his client "made a very, very bad mistake" but is not evil. He asked Bridenstine to sentence Kennedy to the middle of the guidelines of nine to 15 years recommended from the Michigan Department of Corrections.

When it was his turn to speak, Kennedy apologized to Jones' loved ones. He said it was not his intent to put anyone in harm or danger, and said the greatest thing he can do from today is to repent and be an example of love.

"With one bad mistake I destroyed not only my life but the lives of many others," Kennedy said.

Bobbie Muldoon, whose son, Spencer Travioli, was a victim of the armed robbery, said she can't explain the effects Kennedy's actions have had on Jones' friends. An emotional Muldoon said her son has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety, has outbursts of rage and is "a shell of a human being."

"To be honest, you destroyed us," Muldoon said. "Spencer still smells death in his sleep. He hides in closets to avoid interaction."

Charley Rebottaro, the father of robbery victim Silas Rebottaro, said Kennedy changed their lives forever, changed the way they trust and stole happy from them. Rebottaro said he believes Kennedy is a murderer despite the jury's not guilty verdict, since Jones would still be alive if Kennedy had not set him up to be robbed.

"There's evil in this world and evil lives in you," Rebottaro said.

Jones' mother, Tara Workman, said the sentencing is a finality, since she has spent the last 19 months being her son's voice, seeking justice for him. She said her son thought Kennedy was cool and treated him like a friend, but on the night her son was killed Kennedy made a series of poor choices.

"You had so much going for you," Workman told Kennedy. "You had the brightest future. You were going to be a star and you chose to throw it away. You threw away your life. You were going to make a name for yourself but instead you chose an inmate number and a life in prison."

During his victim-impact statement, Jeff Jones, Jones' father, simply read a text he sent his son the day he left for college that he said still rings true. In the text Jones read aloud, he expresses pride in his son and says his heart hurts that he's gone.

"You'll be OK without me but I'm struggling to see how I'll be OK without you," Jones said.