A 23-year-old man was sentenced to spend at least 25 years in prison on Thursday for killing another young man in 2021 and trying to cover up the crime.

Josef Guillen, of Lawrence, was sentenced to spend not less than 25 years in state prison for the killing of Jeffrey Ruiz , 21, of Lowell. He was found guilty of first-degree murder on Oct. 23 by an Essex County jury.

Guillen was sentenced by Hon. Kristen Buxton, who also sentenced him to serve — concurrently — at least two and a half years in prison for possession of a large-capacity feeding device and two years for possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card.

Guillen fatally shot Ruiz on Dec. 5, 2021 near 40 Crosby St. in Lawrence, in what was supposed to be a planned meetup that turned violent.

During the cour

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