2 sentenced to 12 to 24 years in drug-fueled 2016 slaying

BETHLEHEM (AP) — Two Pennsylvania men who pleaded guilty to killing a man during a drug-fueled night of partying have been sentenced to prison.

Thirty-three-year-old Charles Yocum Jr. and 31-year-old James Heimbach were both sentenced Monday to 12- to 24-year terms on third-degree murder pleas.

Both apologized for their roles in the killing of 28-year-old Joseph Goda, who authorities say was bludgeoned with a shotgun at a Bethlehem apartment in September 2016 after the three used flakka, a synthetic drug similar to bath salts.

Authorities said they wrapped his body in a rug, planning to dump it in the ocean, but ended up in the Poconos.

Northampton County prosecutors said neither acknowledged having been the one who killed Goda and proving premeditated murder would have been difficult due to the drugs.