BELEM, Brazil, May 15 (Reuters) - A Brazilian rancher was found guilty on Tuesday of ordering the murder of U.S.-born nun and human rights activist Dorothy Stang in a land dispute in the Amazon rain forest.

Vitalmiro Bastos Moura had been accused of hiring the gunman who shot Stang, a 74-year-old Ohio native, on a remote track in the Amazon jungle in February 2005.

The judge in Belem sentenced him to 30 years in prison.

Her killing drew international attention to the problems of the Amazon, where violent land disputes are common. The trial was widely seen as a test of the justice system in the lawless region.

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