TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man who admitted hanging a woman who owed him money for crack cocaine is going to prison for nearly 18 years.

Forty-six-year-old Ernest Arceneaux pleaded guilty last month to first-degree murder in the death of Joanne M. Ahern. The 36-year-old victim was killed in her apartment last Nov. 2 when Arceneaux strung her up to a ceiling fan, then kicked a chair out from under her.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Arceneaux was sentenced Wednesday to 17 years and 10 months in prison.

A witness testified that Arceneaux was angry because Ahern hadn’t paid him $40 for some crack cocaine. The witness was wearing a concealed wire when she and Arceneaux talked about the killing.

___

Information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com