BRISTOL, R.I. (WPRI) — A Bristol man who pleaded guilty to killing his own grandmother for drug money will spend several decades behind bars.
Raymond Paiva IV, 30, was sentenced Tuesday to 60 years at the ACI with 40 to serve and 20 suspended with probation for the 2017 murder of 66-year-old Eudora Gustafson.
Prosecutors said Paiva put a trash bag over Gustafson’s head and smothered her with a pillow at her Sowams Drive home. He then stole her valuables and sold them to a pawn shop.
Paiva had just used heroin, according to prosecutors, and that night he used the money he got from the pawn shop to buy more heroin.
In addition to the murder charge, Paiva pleaded guilty last week to four counts of receiving stolen goods under $1,500, two counts of forgery and counterfeiting, and single counts of obtaining property under false pretenses and conspiracy.
For the conspiracy charge, he was sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison, which will be served concurrently to the murder sentence.
For one count of forgery and counterfeiting, Paiva was given 10 years suspended with probation, which will be served consecutively. For the second count, he received another 10-year suspended sentence that will be served concurrently.
He was given a one-year suspended sentence for each count of receiving stolen goods and obtaining property under false pretenses.
Paiva was also ordered to pay a total of $540 in restitution to the victim’s family.
As part of the deal, a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon and a second count of conspiracy were dismissed.
Paiva’s alleged co-conspirator, Selena Martinez, faces a similar slate of charges, including murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. Her case is pending in Providence County Superior Court.