One of the four men charged in the 2015 murder and dismemberment of Cranston resident Kerry Mello has pleaded guilty.

Graig Bustillo, 39, of Providence, entered the plea to one count of conspiracy to commit murder in Superior Court on May 20, according to the office of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin. He remains held without bail pending sentencing, a date for which has yet to be set.

Mello, 36, was reported missing shortly after he was last seen on Aug. 10, 2015. Later that month, his dismembered remains were found in waters near Westport, Mass., and on a beach in Little Compton.

In April, authorities announced four men had been charged in connection with Mello’s murder. Charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and mutilation of a dead human body are Jamie Barriera, 35, and Francisco Concepcion, 36, both of Louisiana Avenue in Warwick, and Albert Barriera, 61, of Shannon Drive in Warwick.

Authorities say a dispute over money and marijuana was the motivation for the crime.

In an earlier statement, Kilmartin and Col. Steven G. O’Donnell of the Rhode Island State Police said an investigation found Jamie Barriera had been involved in a marijuana growing operation as a licensed caregiver. In the summer of 2015, authorities say, a “significant quantity of marijuana and currency was stolen from him,” and he believed Mello – described as an associate of his – was responsible.

Jamie Barriera is alleged to have lured Mello to the home of his father, Albert Barriera, where Mello was killed and dismembered. It is alleged Albert Berriera’s boat was used to dispose of Mello’s remains at sea.

In the wake of Mello’s disappearance, local, state, and federal authorities had searched multiple properties tied to the Berriera family.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island state police, along with departments in Cranston, Warwick, Providence, Little Compton and Westport, Mass., the U.S. Coast Guard, Kilmartin’s office, and the Bristol County, Mass., District Attorney’s office took part in the investigation of Mello’s death.