COLUMBUS (AP) — A northeast Mississippi man is pleading guilty to manslaughter in a 2016 death.

The Commercial Dispatch reports 43-year-old Barry Boozer on Tuesday admitted in Lowndes County Circuit Court that he stabbed Robert Elliott Thomas to death at a Columbus motel in November 2016.

Boozer originally was charged with second-degree murder.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison, with 12 more years suspended. He will also pay a $750 fine.

Prosecutors say Thomas visited Boozer and his wife in a hotel room and began arguing. Boozer then stabbed Thomas with a pocketknife.

Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Clemons says Boozer and his wife later pawned the pocketknife used in the fight.

Clemons says she believes the incident was drug-related.