BERKS, Pa. | After pleading guilty to a fatal stabbing in Reading that occurred over a year ago, Richard Paulson was sentenced on Monday to 15 to 30 years in prison, according to the Berks County D.A.

Paulson plead guilty to third degree murder charges in September of 2019, after getting into an altercation with, and eventually stabbing and killing, Hassan Johnson III. 

“This was just a senseless act of violence,” Berks County District Attorney John Adams commented at the time.

According to reports from the incident, both Johnson and Paulson were intoxicated during the fight. Johnson died in the hospital after Paulson stabbed him several times, and Paulson was quickly arrested; he had been in jail and awaiting Monday’s hearing ever since.