Southern Minnesota Man Sentenced For 2022 Drug Related Murder
Albert Lea, MN (KROC-AM News) - An Albert Lea man was sentenced today for a fatal shooting.
34-year-old Ben Vidal Moreno was found guilty of three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of illegal possession of a firearm during his trial in March. The charges stemmed from the death of 45-year-old Juan Vasquez Jr. at a rural property near Albert Lea in August, 2022.
According to the criminal complaint in the case, Moreno was accused of stealing a package of drugs that was supposed to have been delivered to the victim. The court document indicated that prior to the fatal shooting, the two men exchanged threats to kill one another during confrontations over the several weeks that followed the incident involving the stolen package.
The charges alleged that, about an hour before the murder, Vasquez had gone to the property where he was killed and "shouted out" for Moreno. It was alleged that Vasquez fired two shots from a handgun at Moreno, but the bullets missed. Following that, Vasquez and another man drove away from the property and went to a casino in northern Iowa.
According to the criminal complaint, the two men later returned and were greeted by gunfire that struck their vehicle. The court document says investigators found evidence that suggested the vehicle was hit by buckshot from a shotgun and it caused significant damage and flattened the tires.
At that point, witnesses told investigators that Vasquez walked down the driveway with a handgun in his pocket and shouted at Moreno, who responded by fatally shooting Vasquez with a rifle. Moreno then fled from the crime scene and was later arrested at a home near Forest City Iowa.
The evidence listed in the complaint also included recordings of phone conversations from the Freeborn County jail during which Moreno implicated himself in the crime.
He was sentenced today to nearly 40 years in prison with credit for the 659 days he has already spent in jail since his arrest.
