Juvenile lifer, almost 52, gets shorter sentence

ITHACA (AP) — A mid-Michigan man will get an opportunity for freedom, decades after he was given a no-parole sentence for murder when he was a teen.

A Gratiot County judge resentenced Kevin Denman last week and ordered a minimum sentence of 33 years in prison. The Morning Sun says he’ll be eligible for parole later this year.

Denman received a new sentence because the U.S. Supreme Court struck down automatic no-parole punishments for teens.

Denman was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of an elderly man in his Alma home in 1982. Denman expressed remorse in court Monday and said the plan was to rob James Fowler, not kill him.

Denman turned 52 on Saturday. An older brother convicted in the case isn’t eligible for a new sentence.