A Clear Creek County man will spend the majority of his life in prison after murdering a local dog breeder and stealing his puppies.

Sergio Ferrer, 37, appeared in the Georgetown courtroom Monday afternoon, dressed in a black suit and hanging his head low as Fifth Judicial District Judge Catherine Cheroutes sentenced him to 55 years in prison.

Cheroutes sentenced Ferrer to 48 years on one count of second-degree murder and five years on a count of aggravated robbery — both of which Ferrer pleaded guilty to back in December.

“That number may not feel like it’s enough,” Cheroutes said of the sentence. “There probably isn’t any number that would be enough to address the horrific act you committed.”

Ferrer shot and killed 57-year-old Paul Peavey at Peavey’s camper on Aug. 19, 2024 and stole over 10 Doberman puppies, money, jewelry, metal detecting equipment and other valuables.

Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office deputies, along with the help of the Georgetown Police Department, arrested Ferrer on an unrelated warrant out of Nebraska for failure to appear in court on a weapons charge in August 2024.

A few days later, charges were filed against Ferrer in connection to the death of Peavey after a search party of Peavey’s friends found his body about 30 yards from his camper.

“If not for the hard work of Peavey’s friends, it could have been weeks before he was discovered,” Steve Potts, deputy district attorney, told the court Monday.

Peavey’s body was partially covered in branches and rocks and the ground looked as if he had been dragged to the area. He was face-down on a slope with a gunshot wound to the back of his head, according to Potts.

Members of the search party also told police that Ferrer’s daughter had been selling Doberman puppies on Facebook, which Peavey had previously been selling for around $4,500 each.

Ferrer’s wife, Ana Ferrer, was also arrested in Nebraska in March and charged as an accessory to both robbery and theft and tampering with physical evidence. She later pleaded guilty to one count of accessory to a crime and one count of misdemeanor theft in September and received a deferred sentence.

Ferrer initially claimed to have come to the camper to purchase a puppy and saw the door open and the place disheveled with Peavey missing.

The suspect later claimed Peavey worked for a cartel and used his home as a stash house. He claimed that Peavey attempted to shoot him on Aug. 19 at the camper and Ferrer defended himself over a dispute about missing drugs, not puppies.

“This was not a self-defense situation. This was an execution situation,” Potts said.

Peavey’s son, Jacob, addressed the court. His brother, Isaac, stood next to him.

“A 23-year-old should not have to write his own father’s obituary or plan his father’s funeral,” Jacob said. “You didn’t just take the life of a dog breeder, like the headlines say, you took the life of a father, a friend, a Christian man who volunteered in his community and the life of someone who was working to better those around them.”

Jacob turned to Ferrer with tears.

“You made a selfish decision that your own personal short-term gain was more important than a human life,” he said. “You have wasted your chance at life and your presence on this earth will only ever be associated with disgust.”

Ferrer later addressed the court, apologizing for the crime.

“This is a beautiful community, and I caused something tragic and horrible,” he said.