Man Gets 20 to 40 Years in Slaying Over Food Clash

An eastern Pennsylvania man convicted of having killed his roommate during an argument over rice and beans has been sentenced to the maximum term of 20 to 40 years.

The (Easton) Express-Times reports that Lehigh County Judge Kelly Banach on Wednesday called 47-year-old Hector Luis Gonzalez of Allentown the poster child of unintended consequences.

Gonzalez was convicted of third-degree murder in the September 2013 stabbing death of 36-year-old Ahiezer Padilla-Marrero.

Prosecutors said an argument began after Gonzalez found out that the victim had eaten some rice and beans he had planned to feed his two young children.

The defendant, who testified that he acted in self-defense, wept and repeatedly asked for forgiveness from the victim's family and his own relatives, saying he loved Padilla-Marrero like a brother.