A federal jury has convicted a man for his role in a prison slaying in which he was videotaped smearing an organ from the victim on his cell door.

Denver jurors will now decide whether Rudy Cabrera Sablan should get the death penalty for the 1999 killing of cellmate Joey Estrella at the federal penitentiary in Florence. The verdict was delivered yesterday afternoon.

Sablan's co-defendant and cousin, William Sablan, was convicted last year for the homicide and was sentenced to life in prison without parole after jurors decided against the death penalty.

Prosecutors say Estrella was choked into unconsciousness with headphone cords and then his throat was slit with a razor used later to disembowel him.

Jurors will begin hearing arguments Monday before deciding Sablan's sentence.