Billy Ivy, Jr.’s sentence on federal gun charges in no way ends the saga that has captured the panhandle’s attention over the last six months.

In that time, more than a half dozen people have been named or charged in the case.

Ivy himself has been arrested numerous times during that span and is currently serving a federal prison term for illegal weapons charges.

He was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison this week after pleading guilty.

Ivy’s attorney’s refused to comment on any of the cases, saying we are a long way away from the end.

While Ivy is headed to prison, this is not the last time you will hear his name.

He still faces a slew of state charges ranging from tampering with a witness to attempted capital murder while remuneration.

Do not let the word remuneration fool you.  That is a fancy way of saying money paid for a service, and that is where the murder for hire cases come in.

Including Ivy, there is a total of nine people linked to the murder for hire cases.

Ivy is at the center of the alleged conspiracy.  Charged with five separate counts of attempted murder for hire.  Conspiracy to commit murder for hire, two arson charges and tampering with a witness.

After Ivy, Kimber Eisenhaur, Patrick Clemons, Kimberly Dison and Tyler Geisdorf face the most serious allegations.  All four are charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit capital murder by remuneration.

Tyree Sanford and Amber Stone are each charged with arson.

The fires were allegedly set at the home of one of the intended victims.  

Police believe Billy Joe Elmore was one of the men Ivy attempted to hire to kill two different people.

Elmore was killed during a September police standoff in northwest Amarillo as officers attempted to serve a warrant connected to the Ivy case.

Ivy’s wife Joanie faces one count of tampering with a witness for allegedly contacting someone connected to the case.

Once the trials begin, the coverage will likely consume local media as people look for details of what happened, what could have happened and what did not.

That brings us to the cases of Charlesetta Telford and Nicole “Nikki” Moore.  Ivy was implicated in both those unsolved cases.

According to court documents, police tied Ivy to Telford’s murder because he allegedly had a sexual relationship with her and may be the father of Telford’s unborn child who was killed when she was.

Ivy’s also been implicated in the disappearance of Moore.

Police allegedly tracked Moore’s cell phone to an area near the Ivy ranch in Oldham County, but no traces of her or her body have been found.

While Ivy has been implicated in those cold cases, he is not charged in either one.  

Those cases could prolong the cases if prosecutors are trying to tie him directly to them.

Another wrinkle that could drag this out for years, Ivy’s facing charges in two different jurisdictions.  Potter and Randall counties.

Attorneys and prosecutors involved in this case refuse to comment so as to not tarnish it in any way.

But, speaking with a local District Attorney, in the past, about cases involving so many defendants, he explained it this way.  When there are so many people involved, the first one to speak gets the prize.  Meaning, the one who’s willing to blow the whistle on any of the others will likely get a better deal.

For a timeline of events in the Billy Ivy case, click here.