A former Brazilian goalie was convicted in the high-profile murder trial of his ex-girlfriend. He has been sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.

It was a murder case that made headlines across Brazil - Bruno Fernandes das Dores de Souza, otherwise known as Bruno, was found guilty of the assault and ordered murder of his former girlfriend.

A jury of five women and two men heard the case in Minas Gerais. It was reported on Friday that they had reached a guilty verdict for the murder of model Eliza Samudio, Bruno's former girlfriend and mother to his youngest child.

Her body has never been found and authorities thing Bruno dismembered her body and fed her to dogs.

The goalie's defense lawyers told the Brazilian media that they expected the conviction. They have also said they plan to appeal the case.

The goalie was already convicted in a previous case of kidnapping Samudio and forcing her to have an abortion.

At the time of Friday's verdict, he was in the process of serving a prison sentence of four years and six months for the kidnapping case.

"I expected more," the model's mother, Eliza Silva Samudio, told news sources after Bruno's sentencing on Friday. "They made it easy on him."

The judge said the sentence was reduced because the goalie confessed. There are no sentences of longer than 30 years in prison in Brazil.

In accordance with Brazilian law, the goalie could be allowed out in three to four years if his behavior in prison is good.

"These crimes received a lot of attention not only because one of the defendants was a famous football player, but also because of the plot that they involved, and because of the mystery of where the victim's remains were hidden," said the sentence read by judge Marixa Fabiane Lopes Rodrigues.

On Thursday the goalie said for the first time that he knew about the death of his ex-girlfriend, but denied ordering her killing. He added that he felt guilty about what happened to her, but blamed a friend for the crime.

In 2009, Samudio reported to authorities that when she informed Bruno she was pregnant, the goalie and several others kidnapped her and tried to force her to terminate the pregnancy.

She refused, and the child was born healthy. Soon afterward, in June 2010, she disappeared.

Investigators have said that the goalie was behind a plan, saying he lured the model to a ranch in Minas Gerais by promising to fulfill his parental duties. While there she was allegedly murdered by Bruno's accomplices and her remains were fed to dogs.