BARDSTOWN, Ky. — Steve Lawson was sentenced Wednesday to nearly two decades in prison for his role in Crystal Rogers' murder.

In May, Lawson was convicted of conspiracy to murder and tampering with physical evidence in the Bardstown mom's disappearance.

Minutes before the judge's sentencing, members of the Rogers' family spoke directly to the man accused of conspiring to kill her.

Her uncle, Mike Ballard, and sister, Brooke Bryan, spoke for the family, thanking law enforcement and prosecutors for their work.

"Crystal was a beautiful mother of five," Ballard, who is Tommy Ballard's brother, said. "[She] never deserved for her life to end the way it did. We’ll always remember that beautiful smile, and that’s something nobody can ever take away from us."

Credit: Jessica Farley, WHAS11

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