FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Lionel Tate was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison for violating probation, the latest twist in the case of the teenager convicted of murdering a 6-year-old girl in what his attorneys initially claimed was a pro-wrestling move.
Tate, now 19, was 12 when he was convicted in the 1999 beating death of Tiffany Eunick.
His murder conviction was overturned by an appeals court in 2004 after the panel found it wasn't clear whether Tate understood the charges. He was freed from prison under a deal in which he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years' probation.
Under the latest charge, Tate had faced between 10 and 30 years in prison for violating his probation by having a gun and allegedly robbing a pizza delivery man last year.
The judge Thursday allowed him to withdraw his guilty plea in the May 2005 robbery, but still sentenced him on the gun charge.
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