MISSION, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A California man has been sentenced for his role in a 2017 murder case in Mission.

Benjamin Chavez Sanchez was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in state jail after pleading guilty to a charge of murder, according to Hidalgo County Jail records.

According to previous ValleyCentral reports, on Nov. 8, 2017, Hidalgo County deputies responded to a call on Mon Mack Road in reference to suspicious activity.

A man told deputies when he arrived to check up on Ricardo Moreno, he saw “blood all over the house”, deputies said.

During the search of the residence, deputies found evidence of a violent assault and began to look for the occupants of the home, identified as Ricardo Moreno, 55; and Jose Angel Martinez, 32.

According to investigators, surveillance footage showed a “white SUV dragging a male subject down the road way.” Witnesses told investigators, gunshots were heard from the residence.

The report stated that Martinez’s body was found buried and dismembered at a ranch outside Mission.

Sanchez, along with Gabino Salinas, Sandy Lutz and Hector Guerra were arrested on charges of aggravated kidnapping and capital murder, according to jail records.

Salinas was sentenced April 18, 2022 to life in state jail, records show. Lutz and Guerra remain jailed with status hearings scheduled for March of this year.

As part of Sanchez’s plea agreement, charges of possession of marijuana, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated kidnapping were dismissed. Sanchez was also given a jail credit of just over five years.