MIAMI, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A monk-in-training from Ukraine has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the stabbing death of a nun at a religious school in Miami.
Upon the release of Mykhalo Kofel, 22, he will be deported home to Ukraine, The Miami Herald reported Friday.
Kofel pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in the death of Michelle Lewis, 39, at Holy Cross Academy in 2001 in a plea agreement with prosecutors.
The original charge of life in prison carried the possibility of the death penalty.
Prosecutors said they offered the deal because the crime was somewhat mitigated by sexual abuse inflicted on him by priests at the academy.
The Byzantine Catholic priests denied his allegations they sexually abused him.
The victim's mother, Beverly Lewis, appeared at the hearing and told Kofel he beat and stabbed her daughter so brutally, she was not able to see her to say goodbye at her funeral.
