YAKIMA, WA — A Wapato man has been sentenced to federal prison for his involvement in concealing the 2018 murder of Rosenda Strong, whose disappearance and death drew widespread attention across the region.

Andrew Norris Zack, 43, of Wapato, was sentenced to 40 months in prison and three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington announced Wednesday. Zack pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in Strong’s murder, as well as to being a felon in possession of a firearm in a separate 2019 case.

According to federal court documents, Strong was shot and killed on or about Oct. 5, 2018, by Jedidah Iesha Moreno during an argument at a residence in Wapato known as the House of Souls. After the shooting, Moreno enlisted help to dispose of Strong’s body. Prosecutors say Zack and co-defendant Jamaal Antwan Pimms helped place Strong’s body into a freezer, load it onto a truck with other appliances and dump it near M&R Towing off Highway 97 in Toppenish.

Strong’s remains were not found until July 4, 2019, when a citizen discovered a freezer containing human remains later confirmed through dental records to be hers.

In the separate firearm case, Zack was found with a loaded Ruger .22 revolver after a search warrant was executed at a residence in September 2019.

“Rosenda Strong was ruthlessly murdered. This defendant was part of trying to keep that murder silenced,” U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano said in the announcement. He noted that while the sentence cannot undo the loss, he hopes it “allows justice to stand as part of her memory.”

W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle Field Office, said the case underscores the agency’s long-term commitment to violent crime investigations on tribal lands. “More than seven years after this senseless murder, another defendant is being sentenced for helping to conceal the crime,” he said.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Yakama Nation, Yakama Nation Police Department, Yakima County Sheriff’s Office and Washington State Patrol. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas J. Hanlon and Michael D. Murphy.

Pimms, who pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, was sentenced to 26 months in prison earlier this year. Other co-defendants are still awaiting sentencing.