Two men will spend at least 12 months in jail for assault and assisting in the alleged murder of Shepparton man Umit Bolat.
Boon Ping Lee, 26, and Lee Chen Kong, 46, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria last month to common assault and assisting an offender believing they had committed murder.
Boon and Lee assaulted Mr Bolat on the same night it is alleged by the prosecution that a third man murdered him.
Mr Bolat was reported missing on August 21, 2018 and his body was located by police in October that year in the Murray River near Cobram.
In sentencing, Justice Christopher Beale said Mr Bolat sustained blunt-force trauma, broken ribs, a fractured skull and broken nose, however the precise cause of death was unknown.
Boon and Lee were working as fruit pickers in the Shepparton area at the time and were known to the man prosecutors accuse of murdering Mr Bolat.
Justice Beale said Boon and Lee assaulted Mr Bolat because they feared the man who is accused of his murder.
He said both men had assaulted Mr Bolat while he was already badly beaten and defenceless.
In sentencing, Justice Beale said Boon hit the victim with a metal pole and later cleaned up his blood, burnt several items including Mr Bolat's clothing, and assisted in the transfer of the body to a car with another man and dumped it in the Murray River.
Lee hit and kicked Mr Bolat "a few times" and was present when a plastic bag was put around the victim's head.
Justice Beale said Boon cooperated with police upon his arrest, including helping to locate Mr Bolat's body.
Lee initially denied any knowledge of Mr Bolat's death but later gave a detailed account to police.
Justice Beale sentenced Boon to two-years-and-six-months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 18 months; Lee was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 12 months.
Both men will give evidence at the murder trial of a third man in October.
