Bar Owner Sentenced For Role in NJ Narcotics Conspiracy

A New York City bar owner has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in a narcotics conspiracy in which two friends were found fatally shot inside their SUV on a northern New Jersey street.

The Record of Woodland Park reports that Nicholas D. Kiriakakis was tearful as he was lead in handcuffs from a Hackensack courtroom after his sentencing Friday.

The 29-year-old resident of Richmond Hills, N.Y., was acquitted in December on two counts of murder in connection with the 2010 deaths of 28-year-old Jonathan Beneduce of Howard Beach and 27-year-old Michael Mirasola of Ozone Park.

He was found guilty of the lesser charges of conspiracy to distribute drugs and hindering apprehension.

A Teaneck resident discovered the victims' bullet-riddled bodies in February 2010.

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