CHAPEL HILL, Texas — A Longview man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to his involvement in the shooting death of an East Texas motorcyclist in the Chapel Hill area in May 2020.
Jose Antonio Valenzuela entered a guilty plea Thursday afternoon to engaging in organized crime in the 114th District Court in connection with the death of Brandon Edwards, 33, of Ben Wheeler.
Valenzuela will receive credit for time served in the Smith County Jail since he was arrested.
Edwards was found shot to death in the 16400 block of FM 850 in Chapel Hill on May 2, 2020 after multiple shots were fired at his motorcycle while he was chased by a truck, according to police documents.
Valenzuela was one of three men charged with organized crime in connection with Edwards' death.
Jeffery Ryan Griffin, of Robinson, was also sentenced to 22 years in prison after his guilty plea on Feb. 28. Joshua Ray Tibbits, of Waco, has a plea hearing set for April 22 in the 114th District Court.
An arrest affidavit states Edwards, Valenzuela, Griffin and Tibbits were all a part of a motorcycle club.
At the beginning of the investigation, the East Texas Anti-Gang Center was notified because Edwards had on a jacket worn by members of 1%er Cossacks Motorcycle Club Rose City Chapter. The affidavit referred to the organization as Cossacks Motorcycle Gang.
Security footage shows a truck following Edwards’ motorcycle just before he was shot. Witnesses heard gunshots, the affidavit states.
Working with information from an interview, detectives located a Facebook page connected to Valenzuela that showed a similar vehicle to the truck from which Edwards was shot.
In an interview with detectives, Valenzuela said he was a Cossack club member for seven years throughout East Texas and is now the Regional Sergeant at Arms. He said he keeps all of his chapters in check and makes sure they’re abiding by the “Original Cossack way,” according to the document.
Detectives told Valenzuela about the security footage of the suspected vehicle driving behind Edwards’ motorcycle. He immediately said, “that’s not my truck, it just looks like my truck," according to the affidavit.
The affidavit says several members of the Original Cossacks Motorcycle Club — including Tibbits and Griffin — had been at Valenzuela’s home before the shooting.
The driver of a vehicle at Tibbits’ residence in Waco said Tibbits is a Regional Sergeant at Arms of the region and Griffin is a Sergeant at Arms for the Limestone County Cossack chapter. Tibbits said he and Griffin had to go to Longview to handle internal club business, the affidavit read.
Griffin later told detectives that he and Tibbits partied May 2 at Valenzuela’s house, the affidavit stated.
Security footage shows one of the men in the truck that approached Edwards on his motorcycle was wearing a Cossack Motorcycle Club T-shirt, according to the affidavit.