A former Las Vegas government official has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for murdering a newspaper reporter who exposed the official’s workplace malfeasance.

The sentence against the former administrator, Robert Telles, was the maximum that the judge was allowed to impose, according to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson.

Telles was convicted at a jury trial in August for the killing of former Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German at the reporter’s home two years ago.

During the trial, Telles took the stand in his own defense and tried to argue that he was not the killer, but prosecutors presented strong evidence against him, including blood samples from German’s fingernails that contained DNA matched to Telles.

At his sentencing on Wednesday, Telles again said he was not German’s killer. Prosecutors assert he did, and called the matter a case of “unacceptable” political violence.