UPDATE: Former Greenfield man sentenced to life in prison for 1997 murder

UPDATE 6/4/2015:A former Greenfield residents was sentenced to prison for 35 years-to-life in a 2014 murder case.

The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said Fidel Rios-Soto was on the run in Mexico for 15 years after the murder of his roommate in 1997.

Prosecutors said Rios-Soto crossed back into the United States and was arrested in Glenn county for drug sales and the murder warrant.

PREVIOUS STORY: Former Greenfield resident Fidel Rios-Soto was convicted by a grand jury of first-degree murder, according to District Attorney Dean D. Flippo.

Rios-Soto allegedly shot and killed his roommate in 1997.

He was arrested 16 years later in 2013 after the California Highway Patrol in Glenn County arrested him for a traffic offense.

On Aug. 30, 1997, Rios-Soto got into a heated argument with roommate Hilario Avila while drinking at their apartment, according to police. Rios-Soto allegedly went to his bedroom, got a .44-caliber rifle and shot Avila in the chest three times, killing him instantly.

Police say he left the apartment and fled to Mexico.

Flippo said he will be sentenced in January and face 35 years to life in prison.