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A 35-year-old Pharr man was sentenced on Wednesday to 32 years in prison for shooting and killing his roommate in 2018.
Gregory Alexander Ortega, who reached a plea deal with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to murder, tampering with a human corpse, tampering with evidence and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, court records show.
Ortega shot and killed 32-year-old Arnulfo Gaitan on March 28, 2018, according to the indictment.
During the investigation, Gaitan’s family told police that Ortega had portrayed himself as a brother to Gaitan, according to a probable cause affidavit.
That document said Ortega shot Gaitan in the head sometime between March 28 and March 30.
That affidavit also said that when “people would walk up to the house he would crack the front door slightly and when asked about the victim he would tell them that the victim was not at home and then closed the door.”
After his arrest, Ortega said that following the shooting he “got scared and hid the body and began to clean up evidence in the house.”
The shooting happened in the 1000 block of Tulip Drive.
Ortega will receive credit for the nearly six years he has spent in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center awaiting the resolution of his case.
