Wellington man sentenced to 25.5 years in prison in relation to 2019 murder of man

WELLINGTON, Texas (KFDA) - A Wellington man was sentenced to 25.5 years in prison in his involvement in the brutal beating and murder of a man in 2019.

According to a press release from the 100th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, 36-year-old Joe Anthony Arreola pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the death of Frankie Lynn Cannon.

Arreola was sentenced to 25.5 years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

100th Judicial District Attorney Luke Inman, along with Assistant District Attorney Harley Caudle, prosecuted the case for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Stuart Messer presiding.

“This guy was the last of the original four defendants charged for their involvement in Frankie Cannon’s murder,” said Caudle. “Now, with information received as part of some of the plea agreements, we are moving on to prosecuting other players who had a role in Frankie’s [Cannon’s] death.”

On June 26, 2020, Arreola was indicted in Collingsworth County for the first degree felony offense he pled guilty to. His upcoming jury trial was scheduled for August 29.

Arreola is the fourth person to be convicted in relation to Cannon’s murder.

In October of 2021, Gilbert Fernandez was tried by a Collingsworth County jury for murder and aggravated assault charges and was sentenced to life.

In February of 2021, Dacota Segura testified against Fernandez and received a 20 year sentence.

In June of this year, Benjamin Breckenridge pled guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 29.5 years in prison.

Texas DPS Rangers and FBI Special Agents were part of the original investigation that led to multiple indictments against seven individuals, and are still part of the ongoing investigation into other individuals connected to Cannon’s murder, according to Inman.

According to court documents, Arreola was one of four individuals indicted on the same date in connection with the death of Cannon.

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