After evading justice for more than two decades, a man has been convicted and sentenced for a murder he committed in Butler County back in 2004. Antonio Riano, now 63, was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for the shooting death of 25-year-old Benjamin Becerra outside of a Hamilton bar, LOCAL12 reported.
The sentencing, delivered Monday, came after a jury found Riano guilty of Becerra's murder last month. According to FOX19, Riano, who lived as a fugitive under the alias "El Diablo" and worked as a police officer in Mexico, was listed as "Most Wanted" by the Butler County Sheriff's Office and was even featured on "America’s Most Wanted" in 2005. Over the years, his case became one of the region's most notorious unsolved crimes.
On December 19, 2004, inside the Round House Bar in Hamilton, a brief altercation between Riano and Becerra escalated when Riano shot Becerra in the face, leading to Becerra's death. Amidst the bar's history, where Becerra had been involved in a fight weeks before, the tragedy occurred after he was recognized and asked to leave the premises, an investigation by Hamilton police revealed, and Paul Newton, the prosecutor’s chief investigator, recounted to FOX19.
It wasn't until the use of innovative strategies, such as the implementation of social media by investigators, that the cold case experienced a break. Riano was located in his hometown in Mexico, where he served as a policeman, and, with the cooperation of federal agents, he was extradited back to the United States, WLWT detailed. In court proceedings, Riano expressed remorse, stating through an interpreter that he's sorry and saying, "he didn't know how else to defend his family," as per statements obtained by LOCAL12. He has received credit for 467 days already served in jail.
