Adam Rader was handed the maximum sentence of 20 years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary Friday for shooting a man over a missing bottle of Crown Royal whiskey at a party on Easter Sunday.

Avoiding a jury trial on murder charges, Rader, 27, 103 Cross St., pleaded guilty May 3 to manslaughter in the death of 25-year-old Danny Miller on April 12, 2009.

Rader heard his sentence in Warren County Circuit Court without reacting.

“This was a difficult decision, considering the testimony your attorney presented on your behalf,” said Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick, who presided over a sentencing hearing May 28 at which Rader’s father pleaded for leniency. “Your father is a respected man in this community and has worked hard all his life.”

But Patrick added that he was sentencing Rader, not his father. “This community is better than to have a life lost over a bottle of Crown Royal,” he said. Rader is also subject to a $10,000 fine, but it was not clear in court if Patrick had assessed it.

“Justice has been served,” said the victim’s sister, Retha Miller, outside the courtroom with other family members and friends after the sentencing. “Now my brother can rest. We finally got some closure.”

Miller, who lived at 107 Belva Drive, was killed as guests were leaving an afternoon party at a home in the 1400 block of Oakland Street, near Baldwin Ferry Road and Court Street.

Investigators said an argument broke out as the party was ending and it appeared that a bottle of whiskey was missing. Miller was chased down the street by Rader and two other men, and five or six shots were fired.

Miller was pronounced dead at the scene, which responding police officers said was chaotic, with people screaming and at least one police officer attacked.

Another man, Derrick Turner, 26, 401 Pleasant Valley Drive, was held on $75,000 bond for accessory after the fact. District Attorney Ricky Smith said with Rader’s guilty plea, Turner’s case probably would not be prosecuted.

The gun was not recovered.

Rader, who was defended in this case by former Circuit Judge Frank Vollor, had faced at least three other charges of sale of a controlled substance in 2008 and 2009 and has been in the Warren County Jail.

Smith said with Rader’s guilty plea, prosecutors would not go forward on the drug charges.