Manuel Jesus Frias was given a mandatory sentence of life without parole Friday for the 2018 shooting death of Samuel Crockett in Sioux Falls.

In August, Frias was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the death of Crockett in what police say was a drug deal gone wrong on Jan. 5, 2018. He was also found guilty of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, but was acquitted of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.

Judge Natalie Damgaard decided not to give Frias a sentence for the first-degree manslaughter charge but did uphold the conviction. She also sentenced him to five years in the penitentiary for possession of a controlled substance and two years for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Both additional sentences will run concurrent to the life sentence.

The prosecution accused Frias of conspiring with his friends Corey James Zephier and Crystal Mae Habben to rob Crockett during a meth deal, while Frias maintained that he was planning on selling the meth in good faith to Habben and only began shooting after Crockett began shooting at him. Zephier was shot and killed by Crockett during the fracas.

'Cold-blooded killer':Manuel Frias found guilty of second-degree murder during drug deal in 2018

During Frias' sentencing, his defense team defended his actions, saying Frias' only crime was selling drugs, not committing murder.

"I believe the jury got it unequivocally wrong," said defense attorney Michelle Thomas. "Maybe they simply couldn't get over the fact that drugs ... precipitated the shooting."

Thomas said that Frias acknowledges he made bad choices in using and selling meth, but has been clean for the past 18 months. She said Frias is grateful that he was acquitted of killing Zephier, whom he considered a close friend, but she lamented that he would never see the outside of prison walls again.

"Our community is not safer for Manuel losing his life," she said.

Frias himself declined to offer a statement when asked.

But prosecutor Mandi Mowery said that the focus should remain on Zephier and Crockett, the two men whose lives were lost.

"Those two men were silenced forever," Mowery said.

Mowery also pointed out the irony of a common refrain heard throughout the trial, that the men's deaths were the result of a "drug deal gone wrong."

"What drug deal ever goes right?" she asked. "Drug crimes are never victimless and they are never not violent."

Zephier's partner and mother of his two children, Jenny Xayasine, read a victim impact statement aloud prior to Frias' sentencing. Her voice broke as she recalled that Zephier died on the same day as his young daughter's birthday.

"The same day we celebrated my daughter's 11th birthday was the day we mourned her beloved father," Xayasine said. "She will never be able to celebrate her birthday the same."

Xayasine also spoke about her disappointment in Frias' decision to leave the scene of the crime and flee to Nebraska.

"I'm having a hard time understanding how Manuel ... could leave his friend to die alone in the cold," she said.

Before sentencing Frias, Judge Damgaard spoke to him, saying how things could have turned out differently for him and the other two men had they not been involved in the use and sale of drugs. But she also offered some encouragement in the face of his bleak sentence.

"Your life is not lost. You are still alive," she told Frias. "You can make a difference ... and do good with your life still."

This is a developing story. Stay with argusleader.com for updates.

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