3 originally sentenced for murder face burglary sentences

GOSHEN, Ind. (AP) – Three northern Indiana men whose murder convictions were thrown out by the Indiana Supreme Court are scheduled to be sentenced on felony burglary charges.

Blake Layman, Levi Sparks and Anthony Sharp Jr. of Elkhart are scheduled to appear Thursday before Elkhart Circuit Judge Terry Shewmaker. They each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Layman and Sharp had previously received sentences of 55 years, while Sparks received a 50-year sentence after they were convicted of murder in the 2012 death of an accomplice who was fatally shot by a homeowner after they broke into a house. They were convicted under a state law that allows murder charges if someone is killed during the commission of another felony.

The Indiana Supreme Court threw out the murder convictions in September.