city man said nothing as he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for stabbing a man to death during a gang fight last summer.

Kemo Santana, 18, dressed in green jail garb, appeared Tuesday before Rensselaer County Judge Andrew Ceresia and was sentenced to 15 years for first-degree manslaughter and 15 years for gang assault. The two sentences will be served at the same time.

The Troy High School student pleaded guilty last month in the gang-related killing of New York City man Edgar Aquino, 26, during a Father's Day brawl outside the Martin Luther King Jr. apartment complex.

When asked if he had anything to say, Santana shook his head no.

During his plea, Santana said, "There was a fight, and I stabbed him in the chest."

"Myself and some others kicked and punched Mr. Aquino," Santana said at the time.

Santana was originally charged with second-degree murder and faced a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

District Attorney Richard McNally said prosecutors agreed to the plea agreement because of questions about whether they had enough evidence to win a murder conviction.

Santana, accompanied by his lawyer, Joseph Ahearn, surrendered to Troy police in July. At that time, Ahearn said that because two groups were fighting, prosecutors would have a difficult time proving murder.

"There were other kids in that neighborhood involved in this who have been bragging they caused this person's death," Ahearn said at the time.

McNally at that time agreed it would be a tough case for prosecutors.

"This is a real challenge because you have large groups of kids hanging out on the streets and getting involved with violence," McNally said then. "We are trying to apply the law to the facts of this case, but even the victim had knife wounds on his hands from a fight the night before."

Five other men face gang assault charges in the Aquino case. Some have entered plea deals.

Cases are pending for the others in county court.