Pellot sentenced to life in prison; attorney says fight for his client continues

LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - After two weeks of trial and more than 20 witnesses taking the stand Joel Pellot was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

For the past two weeks, the state and defense have been going back and forth over a mountain of evidence and testimonies from family, friends and first responders.

The trial was led by an all-female team led by the District Attorney’s Chief Assistant Marisela Jacaman and for the defense was Roberto Balli.

While one said the case is over, the other is saying that it is not.

From pictures to getting witnesses such as Maria Eugenia Munoz’s sister, Marisol Munoz-Rodriguez and even Joel’s mother Miriam Carrasquillo to take the stand.

According to Marisol, her sister’s attitude changed over the years while she was married to Pellot; meanwhile, Pellot’s mother said her son is a good man and a good father.

After the deliberation from the jury and the judge was approved, KGNS reached out to both attorneys on the result of this case.

The state’s district attorney, Isidro Alaniz said this will bring a sense of peace to Maria Munoz’s family and that justice was served to Pellot.

Meanwhile, Roberto Balli, Pellot’s attorney said the fight for his client continues.

“Justice finally arrived for the family, the jury’s verdict speaks loud and clear as to the value of Maria and the long life that she had and Joel Pellot took away from her,” said Alaniz.

“In this case there’s several arguments that we made that were not accepted with the court, but we are going to be taken this case on appeal and this case should last and we should be working on this case for the next few months,” said Balli.

Although the trial has ended, Balli said they will appeal the verdict; however, the district attorney says they are ready to face-off and expect the same outcome.

Coming up in our later newscasts KGNS News exclusively spoke with the Munoz Family after Thursday’s sentencing.

For more headlines. click here.

Copyright 2023 KGNS. All rights reserved.