A former Las Vegas-area elected Democrat official found out his fate from a judge this week after having been charged for murder. 

According to The Hill, Robert Telles will serve a 28-year sentence in a Nevada state prison after being found guilty of killing an investigative journalist who had reported on the killer's misconduct at the time.

The investigative journalist that he murdered had also exposed him for allegedly having an intimate relationship with a coworker.

The judge who sentenced Telles to prison was able to use sentencing enhancements to add eight years to the original 20 he was sentenced to.

What happened?

According to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, the judge in the case sentenced Telles to the maximum sentence allowed.

“She gave him the maximum," he told reporters, after some in the community complained about the sentence due to the fact that it was first-degree murder.

"I did not kill Mr. German." Once again, convicted killer #RobertTelles tells the court at sentencing that he had no part in murdering investigative reporter #JeffGerman.

The judge then sentenced Telles to life in prison. #CourtTV Is this justice? pic.twitter.com/UqqRp0j48N

— Court TV (@CourtTV) October 16, 2024

The Hill reported:

Telles, 47, testified in his defense at trial, denying he stabbed Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German to death in September 2022. But evidence against him was strong — including his DNA beneath German’s fingernails.

At the time of his arrest, Telles, a Democrat, was "the administrator of a county office that handles unclaimed estate and probate cases," according to the outlet.

Even during his sentencing, Telles insisted that he did not kill the investigative reporter, saying "I understand the desire to seek justice and hold somebody accountable for this," he said.

He added, "But I did not kill Mr. German."

Prosecutors confident

Prosecutor Pamela Weckerly argued that Telles killed the journalist over the unfavorable reporting, saying "he didn’t like what Mr. German had written about him. He felt that Mr. German had cost him an elected position."

"This type of violence, this sort of political violence," Weckerly added, "is unacceptable and dangerous for a community as a whole."

According to data, German was the only journalist who was killed in 2022.