Former politician sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment for murder of investigative reporter

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FILE – Robert Telles sits on the witness stand during the ninth day of his murder trial at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

A former politician found guilty of murdering a Las Vegas investigative journalist has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Robert Telles hung his head and shook it slightly from side to side as the guilty verdict was read. The jury deliberated for nearly 12 hours over three days after hearing eight days of evidence in his trial, which began on August 12.

Telles, 47, faced a sentence of life without parole, life with 20 years' probation, or 20 to 50 years in prison. A conviction for using a deadly weapon would add one to eight years to his sentence, according to the Associated Press.

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Prosecutors presented evidence against Telles, including DNA evidence, linking him to German's killing. Telles claimed he was framed in the case. Telles will be sentenced at a hearing scheduled for a later date.

The 47-year-old has been in jail without bail since his arrest after Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, who covered crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas for 44 years, was found cut and stabbed to death outside his home on Labor Day weekend 2022.

Telles denied killing German, 69, claiming a conspiracy framed him for German's murder in retaliation for his attempt to root out corruption he had noticed in his office.

According to AP, Telles is a lawyer and practiced civil law before his election in 2018. However, his license to practice law was revoked after his arrest.

The AP found that Telles lost his primary for a second term after German's articles appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May and June 2022. The articles criticized Telles' conduct in his elected office, including an alleged romantic relationship between Telles and a female staffer.