TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video aired in May 2020.
A Waco man was sentenced Tuesday to 45 years in prison for his involvement in the shooting death of an East Texas motorcyclist in the Chapel Hill area in May 2020.
Joshua Ray Tibbits, of Waco, was found guilty of engaging in organized crime following a trial in the 114th District Court. Jurors later sentenced him to 45 years in prison, according to the Smith County judicial records.
Records show he will receive credit for 1,281 days served.
Tibbits' conviction stems from the death of motorcyclist Brandon Edwards, 33, of Ben Wheeler, who was found shot to death in the 16400 block of FM 850 in Chapel Hill on May 2, 2020. Police documents said multiple shots were fired at his motorcycle while he was chased by a truck.
Two other men, Jose Antonio Valenzuela, of Longview, and Jeffery Ryan Griffin, of Robinson, were also charged and later pleaded guilty to engaging in organized crime relating to Edwards' death. Both were sentenced to 22 years in prison last year.
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 showed a truck following Edwards’ motorcycle just before he was shot. Witnesses heard gunshots, the affidavit stated. 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 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 identified Tibbits as a Regional Sergeant at Arms of the region and Griffin as 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 on May 2 at Valenzuela’s house, the affidavit stated.
Video showed 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.