Brian Matthew Smith, of Central Point, appears in Jackson County Circuit Court Monday.

A Central Point man will serve two decades behind bars after pleading no contest to a manslaughter charge among other crimes in connection with a robbery at the Sis-Q Motel in Medford that culminated in the manager dying of cardiac arrest.

Brian Matthew Smith, 31, was sentenced Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court to 20 years with credit for time served for his role in the homicide of 60-year-old Bansi Sahu at the front desk of the motel on Riverside Avenue and an attack on Sahu’s wife as she rushed to her husband’s aid during the robbery the afternoon of Dec. 31, 2021.

Earlier charges of second-degree murder and first-degree burglary were dropped as terms of a plea agreement negotiated between Chief Deputy District Attorney Patrick Green, Deputy District Attorney Sara Shaw and Smith’s defense lawyers David Rich and Jennifer Perkins.

The plea agreement calls off a murder trial that was scheduled to last 10 days starting next week.

On the day of the robbery, prosecutors say Smith arrived at the motel by car intoxicated on alcohol and methamphetamine and started pounding on the locked reception door demanding money. According to a release issued by the DA’s office, Smith did not have a room at the motel at the time.

He broke through the glass door and entered the reception area, confronted Sahu and hit the man in the face and chest before Sahu collapsed and suffered a heart attack.

Sahu’s wife, Kanchan Sahu, rushed to her husband’s aid, prosecutors say, prompting Smith to strike the woman’s face and cause a laceration.

Smith then went behind the counter and took more than $100 from the register before fleeing. Medford police detained Smith near the scene, and Sahu died shortly after the robbery. Smith has been held in the Jackson County Jail since the date of the crime, records show.

Smith pleaded no contest to felony counts of first-degree manslaughter and first-degree robbery, along with misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree assault and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but has the same legal consequences as a guilty plea.

According to a July news report, as recently as last month prosecutors had refused to consider a plea agreement involving anything less than a murder charge. Prosecutors say the family was present in negotiations and agreed with the manslaughter resolution.

At sentencing Monday, Sahu’s family was present, and his daughter spoke in court about how the incident changed her family.

Judge Kelly Ravassipour followed the terms of the negotiated plea agreement and sentenced Smith to 20 years in the custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections with credit for time served. Prosecutors say that Smith will serve his sentence “without any reduction allowed.”