A Virginia man accused of robbing and killing his drug supplier and then burning the body to conceal his crimes has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Joseph Richard Walker, 30, pleaded guilty in February to one count each of using a firearm during a drug-related violent crime and Hobbs Act Robbery — a federal charge for robbery that affects interstate commerce.

Walker and a co-conspirator, Garrett Isaac Williams, would often meet with a Pennsylvania man at Walker’s Roanoke home to buy marijuana, which they intended to distribute, prosecutors said.

Their relationship began in December 2021 and ended in April 2023 when Walker fatally shot the supplier, identified in court papers as E.B.

According to investigators, their relationship went sour after E.B. mistakenly called Walker’s mother while trying to collect a drug debt from Williams.

After that phone call, the pair ordered a large quantity of the drug, which they planned to steal from E.B. and scare him from returning to Virginia.

On April 17, 2023, when E.B. arrived at Walker’s home, the men got into an argument over the phone call to Walker’s mother. During the altercation, Walker robbed his supplier before shooting him twice with a semiautomatic pistol, killing E.B.

“To conceal the crime, Walker dragged E.B.’s body out of his residence, placed it in the trunk of E.B.’s car, and then drove the car out to Bedford County, Virginia, where he set it on fire,” prosecutors said.

In April 2024, a federal grand jury in Roanoke charged both men with multiple federal crimes related to the 2023 drug robbery and murder.

Walker pleaded guilty on January 16, 2025. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to the maximum allowed term of 35 years.

Williams has also pleaded guilty to related charges, prosecutors said. He’s currently awaiting sentencing.