WBRZ - Baton Rouge

The sentence of a Merryville man who beat a man to death in Ragley in 2008 has been upheld.

In 2009, Jamey Lynn Stout pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which carries a maximum of 40 years, as part of a plea agreement in state court.

Stout was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

He was initially charged with second-degree murder, which would carry a life sentence, in the slaying Anthony Hebert Jr.

Stout had appealed his sentence under the claim that it was excessive.