POCATELLO — A 27-year-old Fort Hall man has been sentenced to serve more than 27 years in federal prison for the 2018 murder of Austin Pevo, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye sentenced Justin Beasley to 327 months in prison for second-degree murder. Nye also ordered Beasley to serve another five years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.

A jury convicted Beasley after a trial that ended on Aug. 5.

Evidence at the trial showed Pevo, 23, was dropped off by his mother at a residence on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation on Feb. 3, 2018, for job cutting firewood, according to a U.S. Attorney’s office press release. Beasley and others were at the residence, and Beasley and Pevo had an argument, according to the press release. Officials said Beasley stabbed Pevo twice in the chest with a knife, and he and two other men left his body in an isolated area in Arbon Valley.

Pevo’s family subsequently reported him missing, and a witness to the events provided Fort Hall police details of what had happened in August of 2019, as well as the fact that three men removed his body, officials said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained a warrant to search the home and found evidence that Pevo had died there, according to the press release.

One of the men who had helped hide the body led authorities to the location, where remains were found and confirmed by DNA testing to be Pevo’s, according to the press release.

“Prosecuting violent crimes in Indian country is a priority for my office, and I hope this sentence brings some amount of closure and justice to the victim’s family,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael Gonzalez said in the press release.