A fugitive real estate heir from New York City has pleaded guilty to weapon charges on Thursday at the Louisiana Justice Court. The man who has been identified as Robert Durst, agreed to serve seven years and one month in prison.
According to ABC News, United States District Judge Kurt Engelhardt announced on Wednesday his agreement to consider the plea and make a decision once the pre-sentencing data arrives in two weeks.
Durst's plea was noted to be in line with with a charge of carrying a .38-caliber revolver illegally right after he was convicted of a felony. The said charge has kept him in Louisiana.
The plea's acceptance is a part of Durst's extradition to California, where he is wanted for the death of Susan Berman back in 2000.
The real estate heir reportedly wants to travel to California to prove his innocence. His lawyer, Richard DeGuerin, claims his client did not kill Berman. "Bob Durst didn't kill Susan Berman and doesn't know who did, and he's eager to go to trial and prove it", DeGuerin wrote in an email Tuesday as reported by Fox News.
Assistant United States Attorney Michael McMahon called the deal a "good result". The maximum penalty Durst could have faced was 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
As noted by Business Insider, Durst was accused of killing Berman to keep her from spilling details to New York prosecutors regarding the disappearance of Durst's first wife, Kathleen, in 1982.
He was formally arrested on a New Orleans hotel before the airing of "The Jinx," HBO's documentary about Durst's crimes which include Berman and his wife's death, as well as the dismemberment of his neighbor Moris Black. Viewers reportedly saw him in a washroom with a live microphone before saying "There it is. You're caught! What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course."
He was later acquitted of Black's murder after testifying he killed him out of self-defense.
