Defendant sent to prison for stabbing drug dealer to death
RENO -- A convicted felon was sentenced Friday to 3½ to 10 years in prison for fatally stabbing his drug dealer on a Reno street.
Washoe County District Judge Steven Kosach imposed the sentence Friday on Ryan Cox, who earlier pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the March 2010 death of 57-year-old Jeffrey Middelsteadt.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports Cox had two prior felony drug convictions, and was an admitted user of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine.
Prosecutors say the 37-year-old Cox arranged for Middelsteadt to meet him on the pretense of buying heroin from him, but killed him in an effort to rob him of drugs.
A Secret Witness tipster saw the two together and helped police crack the case.
Cox has already served nearly two years in jail.
