A 26-year-old Tucson man who spent six years as a fugitive in a murder case was sentenced Monday to life in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years.
Jose "J.J." Ortiz was convicted last month of first-degree murder in the March 2002 death of Greg Arbuckle.
On Monday in Pima County Superior Court, Judge Howard Fell sentenced Ortiz to life in prison plus concurrent time for attempted armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Ortiz shot Arbuckle six times — four times in the back — in the 8600 block of East Rosewood Street, near East Speedway and North Camino Seco.
Ortiz, Jeffrey Roberts and Justin Samson Jr. planned to rob Arbuckle, a drug dealer, of either his cash or his drugs, according to prosecutors.
Roberts ended up changing his mind about the robbery, but Ortiz didn't know that when he came into the house and shot Arbuckle while Arbuckle and Roberts were in a physical fight.
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Roberts was sentenced to 18 years in prison for manslaughter. Samson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery and was placed on probation.
