A 37-year-old Mercer County man was sentenced Monday to up to 40 years in prison for murdering a man in 2017.

Joshua K. Greaves spent the past three years in Butler County Prison after he was charged May 8, 2017, with the murder of Gregory Bosko. On May 29, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of murder in the third degree and a felony charge of theft.

“Life is precious, I know that,” Greaves said right before his sentence was handed down. “But that doesn't justify murder. Bosko didn't deserve it. I'm responsible for his death. I've caused a wave of detriment to many. I'm sorry to the Bosko family, to my family and the community as a whole.”

In taking the plea deal, Greaves admitted to slashing Bosko's throat while he sat behind him in Bosko's car on March 21, 2017, during an alleged drug deal in Butler Township. He further admitted to dumping the Kittanning man's body in a wooded area along Redbud Road.

Bosko's family attended Monday's sentencing, with several members of Greaves' family sitting across the aisle. The two sides painted vastly different pictures of Greaves, with Bosko's daughter, Nicole Bosko, calling Greaves a monster, while Greaves' mother said he was a sensitive and artistic child.

During his statement to the court, Greaves expressed remorse, adding that he was in a “drug-induced haze” at the time of the murder. After hearing both sides, Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer sentenced Greaves to 20 to 40 years in prison, giving him credit for time already served.

Several members of Bosko's family testified during the hearing. They said they not only lost a family member, but they lost a lifetime of activities and would-be memories. Nicole Bosko, one of two of Gregory Bosko's children, said her father would never be able to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. There will be grandchildren that her father will never know the “warmth” of their hugs and there will be no fishing trips, no Pirates games.

“My dad did not live a long life, and he did not pass away among loved ones,” said Gregory Bosko, Jr. “Greaves' actions affect multiple generations.”

Nicole Bosko said she laments the day when she will have to tell her children that their grandfather was murdered.

“How do I tell them some monsters are real, and they could be walking amongst us?” she said.

But the murder also changed the trajectory of Greaves' life, according to testimony from Greaves' family.

Greaves' lawyer, Christopher Capozzi, presented art projects and poems by Greaves to show his client was more than a murderer and didn't deserve the maximum prison sentence.

Through family testimony, Capozzi argued that Greaves' life was full of hope, derailed by drug addiction and family abuse.

“You have not done well as an adult,” Shaffer noted at the end of the hearing. “You have a lot of promise, God-given gifts. Somehow that got squandered in adult life and that led to the tragedy of Bosko's murder.”

Shaffer said he decided not to impose the maximum sentence of 47 years, “but I'll impose one that holds you accountable.”

The hearing started with testimony from Dan Bosko, the victim's brother.

He said he was frustrated with the media's portrayal of his brother as a “worthless, uncaring criminal.”

Dan Bosko said his brother “struggled with addiction, but he tried to get better.”

He recalled that Gregory Bosko “would do what he could to help out his friends. He was very trusting, and that's how he got into this situation.”

Bosko's body was found wrapped in a green blanket on April 1, 2017, in a wooded area north of Chicora. Butler County Coroner William Young III ruled Bosko's death a homicide. He said the cause of death was “sharp trauma of the neck,” and that Bosko's throat had been slit “multiple times.”

Dan Bosko called the act “vicious, sickening violence.”

He recalled that Gregory Bosko was killed in his car.

“Greg's last breath of air was in his car he loved so much,” Dan Bosko said. “Our lives completely changed. We've been in a state of grief ever since.”

Dan Bosko read a statement written by the mother of Gregory Bosko's kids.

“The defendant has sentenced my children to life without their father,” Dan Bosko read.

Countering this depiction, Capozzi called Patricia Greaves, the defendant's sister, to make a statement.

“I am walking proof that Greaves is a good person,” she said, recalling a childhood with an abusive, alcoholic father from whom Greaves shielded her.

“He took the brunt of family abuse,” she said. “Josh is the most supporting, caring person I know.”

Both her and Greaves' mother, who also testified, said that drug addiction had created a second, sinister version of Greaves.

Under sentencing guidelines, the murder charge called for a prison sentence of 11½to 40 years and the theft charge calls for one year to seven years in prison.

But Dan Bosko said he hoped the punishment extends past Greaves' death.

“I hope he burns in hell,” Bosko said, calling Greaves “a soulless individual, a waste of flesh.”

<b>2017</b>March 21: Joshua K. Greaves killed Gregory W. Bosko by slitting his throat during a drug deal in Lyndora.March 24: Greaves and Tiffany N. Hilliard charged with giving false names after being found in Bosko’s car in the 300 block of West Wayne Street. Both were found to have bench warrants and were detained.Late March: The couple named as persons of interest in the disappearance of Bosko, who was reported missing March 20. Around the same time, police learned about Bosko’s death through recorded phone calls Hilliard made to her mother from the jail. She eventually told authorities about the murder.April 1: Investigators discovered Bosko’s body wrapped in a green blanket on Redbud Road. His throat had been cut.May 8: Greaves formally charged. Among the criminal charges are homicide, felony robbery and abuse of a corpse. Hilliard is charged with robbery, inflicting serious bodily injury, robbery of a motor vehicle, theft, receiving stolen property, concealing/destroying evidence, abuse of a corpse and multiple conspiracy charges.November: Greaves’ jury selection and trial is rescheduled for the first time by his defense attorneys to 2018.<b>2018</b>July: Greaves’ jury selection and trial was rescheduled for the second time with no set date.August: As part of a plea deal, Hilliard is sentenced to 18 to 36 months in jail for her role in the case after pleading guilty to felony robbery and abuse of a corpse, with all other charges dismissed.<b>2019</b>Jan. 10: Hilliard paroled.July 31: Greaves’ jury selection and trial is rescheduled for the third time to spring 2020.<b>2020</b>May 29: Greaves pleads guilty to third degree murder and theft.