A man accused of suffocating his neighbor over crack cocaine pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder.

Roland Smith, 45, will end up spending 15 years in prison, far less than the life sentence he could have faced had prosecutors not agreed to drop the first-degree murder charge.

"Proving premeditation may have been difficult at trial," Hamilton County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Rogers said when asked why the prosecution allowed Mr. Smith to plead guilty to a lesser charge.

Premeditation is an element of first-degree murder, according to state law, and must be proven to convict a defendant of the crime. But premeditation can be "formed in an instant," state law indicates.

Mr. Smith's attorney, Mike Little, said Thursday that his client does not necessarily agree with how authorities believe the crime happened, but said it was in Mr. Smith's best interest to plead guilty rather than to gamble with a jury.

In describing the crime to Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman, Mr. Rogers said Mr. Smith's angry words toward victim Tonya Gladden simply "turned into action."

"He suffocated and strangled Ms. Gladden to death," Mr. Rogers said.

According to past reports, Ms. Gladden, 43, and Mr. Smith were crack cocaine addicts who would hang out with each other at Ms. Gladden's Rustic Village apartment in Brainerd.

On Sept. 9, 2007, investigators say, Mr. Smith got angry with the victim over either a quantity of crack or money, eventually strangling her with his bare hands.

Immediately after she died, Mr. Smith stripped the victim naked and left the apartment with her rented large-screen TV. He sold the TV, investigators say, and used the money to buy more drugs.