TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – A Waco man convicted on Monday for his involvement in the shooting death of an Arp motorcyclist was sentenced to 45 years in prison Tuesday.

Joshua Ray Tibbits, 32, a member of the Cossacks motorcycle gang, was pronounced guilty of engaging in organized crime in connection with the May 2, 2020 shooting death of Brandon Edwards. Edwards was a member of the “Cossacks 1%” and was supposedly impersonating a member of the “real” Cossacks gang. Prosecutors successfully argued that Tibbits and at least one of his co-defendants shot at Edwards from a truck on a Smith County highway.

Around 5 p.m., the jury returned a verdict of 45 years in federal prison. Tibbits will be eligible for parole after 22.5 years served.

In their opening statements, both the state and defense said the jury will hear more about the kind of person Tibbits really is, with the state emphasizing his history of gang membership and the defense emphasizing who he is “beneath the surface.”

The state’s first witness was a Smith County Sheriff’s Office crime scene investigator who talked about Tibbits’ past criminal history, including being charged with burglary of a habitation and how he was given a six-year prison sentence after violating parole.

The defense countered that Tibbits was only 16-17 years old when he violated his parole and that the crime wasn’t related to the Cossacks as he had not yet become a member.

READ REST OF ARTICLE

• Gang rivalry led to deadly shooting ROCK MACHINE VS VAGOS MC
• ROCK MACHINE MC MURDERED MEMBER OF VAGOS MC
• RETRIBUTION AGAINST THE PAGANS MC
• THE MOST FEARED OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE CLUB [THE MONGOLS]
• Carson City motorcycle club distributes more than 1,000 gifts