ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A man convicted of killing an associate in an alleged marijuana trafficking operation has been sentenced to life in prison.

An Anne Arundel County Circuit judge sentenced 51-year-old Michael Stahlnecker of Crofton on Monday. The News-Post of Frederick reports (http://bit.ly/XAXqUr) that he had been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 37-year-old John Ryan of Frederick.

Prosecutors say Stahlnecker shot Ryan of Frederick in the head and left his body in the trunk of Ryan’s Lexus in Derwood in December 2012.

Stahlnecker owned Computer Power Cabling Corp. and Levitating Sports. Prosecutors produced evidence the men moved marijuana from California to Maryland by hiding it in shipments of electrical generators.

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Information from: The Frederick (Md.) News-Post, http://www.fredericknewspost.com

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