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19 Years For Man Who Fatally Shot Recent College Grad In Harlem

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man convicted of killing a recent college graduate in Harlem last year was sentenced to 19 years in prison Wednesday.

As WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported, Khalid Rhaman was sentenced for his role in the shooting of Matt Shaw, 21.

19 Years For Man Whose Bullet Killed Recent College Grad In Harlem

The youngest of seven children, Shaw had just graduated with a degree in finance from Le Moyne College in Syracuse and was back home in East Harlem when he was shot dead outside a public housing development on 128th Street between Park and Lexington avenues.

It was July 5 last year, which turned out to be the deadliest 24-hour period in the city in 2012. Twenty-one people were shot in that time period, Shaw among them.

He was not the intended target, police said.

Shaw's large, devoted family came to court Wednesday for his sentencing.

Rhaman tried at the last minute to wriggle out of his guilty plea by claiming that he had been high on angel dust. The judge did not buy it.

One of the victim's sisters confronted the defendant, saying: "I'm appalled at your story. Be a man. Face what you did to my brother."

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