NEW ORLEANS — A 26-year-old man is facing a lifetime in prison after being convicted in a triple murder in New Orleans.

An Orleans Parish jury on Saturday convicted Charles “Tiger” Franklin of three counts of first-degree murder.

The killings happened in 2010 in New Orleans’ St. Roch neighborhood.

Franklin was accused of committing the murders with a friend, 22-year-old Dwayne “Red” Johnson, in a dispute about crack dealing. Johnson pleaded guilty in August to three counts of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Franklin will be formally sentenced to life on Dec. 17. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

The jury in Franklin’s case did not accept his alibi that he was at home with his girlfriend when the killings occurred.

Johnson testified at the weeklong trial, claiming Franklin wasn’t among those who killed Desmond Harris, Kewanda Harris and Karen Matthews. Instead, Johnson named a man, Paul Spooner, who was shot dead last May in New Orleans. Johnson refused to identify the third man he said was involved in the triple killing.

Prosecutors, however, said that Johnson had lied before, at one point taking sole credit for the murders and later agreeing as part of his plea deal that Franklin was involved.

No physical evidence was presented at the trial, and there was no clear witness identification of Franklin as one of the shooters.

Franklin’s attorneys, Dwight Doskey and Brandi Struder, said police used aggressive tactics and threats to wheedle statements and testimony from witnesses.

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Information from: The New Orleans Advocate, http://www.neworleansadvocate.com(MGNonline)