Mexican authorities have convicted one of the suspects in the 2017 murder of well-known Mexican journalist Javier Valdez.

The suspect, identified simply as "Heriberto P" in a release, was sentenced in federal court to nearly 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to his role in the murder.

Valdez was shot near the offices of the weekly Riodoce that he co-founded in Culiacan, Sinaloa, where the trial also took place.

Jan-Albert Hootsen, the Mexico representative with the Committee to Protect Journalists, was in the courtroom and says the sentence was welcome news, though much remains to be done.

“We should not forget that the guy who’s currently convicted was just the weakest in the whole chain of suspects, and the whole chain of events,” he said.

One of the suspected triggermen did not accept a plea deal, according to a CPJ release. Another suspect, the alleged mastermind, is in U.S. custody.