A 38-year-old local man was recently sentenced to serve over 21 years in prison for fatally shooting a man at a Fort Hall home in 2018 before lighting the residence on fire.

Fort Hall resident Rydon Clyde Teton, who is a member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe of Fort Washakie, Wyoming, was sentenced to 253 months in federal prison for the shooting death of Francisco Martinez, 20, of Fort Hall, in January 2018, authorities said.

The incident unfolded when the Fort Hall police and fire departments were dispatched to a home on B Street for a fire, according to police and court records.

Witnesses said they saw a fire inside the home and entered to investigate, locating a deceased and burned body, which they moved to the porch and then called police.

The fire was extinguished and the deceased individual was identified as Martinez. Authorities determined he had been fatally shot days earlier.

The law enforcement investigation led to Teton, who reportedly had earlier been seen carrying a gun. Officers located Teton at a mobile home park in Pocatello and confiscated his gun. Teton was interviewed by Fort Hall police and FBI agents and he stated that he and Martinez had an argument about a debit card.

Teton said he and the victim struggled and Teton fatally shot him. Teton later admitted to burning the body and using his gun to kill the victim.

Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye handed down the 253-month sentence, which is a combined sentence consisting of 133 months for the voluntary manslaughter conviction and a consecutive 120 months for the use of the firearm in committing the killing.

Chief Judge Nye ordered Teton to pay restitution in the amount of $68,339.11 for Martinez’s funeral expenses and for his lost tribal income, which is to be paid to Martinez’s minor child. Judge Nye also ordered Teton to serve five years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

Judge Nye granted Teton 111 days of credit for the time he served in tribal jail on the same charges before coming into federal custody. Teton pleaded guilty to the charge of voluntary manslaughter and to the charge of the use of a firearm in a violent crime on Aug. 16, 2023.

U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit commended the cooperative efforts of the FBI and the Fort Hall Police Department in bringing Teton to justice. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Haycock prosecuted the case.