CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – George Huguely V, the former University of Virginia lacrosse player convicted of beating his ex-girlfriend to death in 2010, was sentenced Thursday to 23 years in prison for her murder.

Reporters swarmed the tiny courthouse in the heart of bucolic Charlottesville as Huguely’s family packed the courtroom, with some testifying in hopes of getting the 24-year-old a shorter sentence than the 26 years recommended by a jury in February.