( CNN ) -- The lawyer for Joran Van der Sloot , the Dutch national accused of killing a 21-year-old woman in Lima , Peru , last year , said Monday he has asked the court to charge his client with the lesser offense of manslaughter . `` In his statement to the police , Joran admitted that he committed the crime , but it was not in the way that the police said it happened , '' said attorney Maximo Altez . `` We have submitted a motion to show that he should n't be charged with aggravated murder , but with violent emotion murder . '' `` Violent emotion murder '' is the equivalent of manslaughter in the United States . Van der Sloot faces up to five years in prison if convicted on the lesser charge and a minimum of 15 years if found guilty of first-degree murder . Altez gave a copy of the motion , dated late last year , to `` In Session . '' A judge has not yet made a ruling on it , he said . Van der Sloot has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the case of 21-year-old Stephany Flores . Authorities found Flores ' body in a Lima hotel room registered to him in June last year . He is perhaps best-known as the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of an American teenager in Aruba . Van de Sloot was arrested twice in connection with the Natalee Holloway case , but was not charged . Police have said Van der Sloot admitted that he attacked Flores on May 30 after she read an e-mail on his computer connected with the Holloway case . After killing Flores , police say , Van der Sloot took money and bank cards from her wallet and fled to Chile , where he was arrested June 3 . He was returned the next day to Peru . `` My client ... admits having murdered the victim , but not with ferocity , for profit or pleasure , nor any of the other element ( s ) that make up this murder , but only by violent emotion that overtook him at the time he was attacked by the victim , '' Altez 's motion read . The lawyer contends there is no evidence of robbery . Van der Sloot also faces federal wire fraud and extortion charges in the United States , where prosecutors say he demanded more than $ 250,000 from Holloway 's family in return for disclosing the location of her body . `` I hope he remembers that there 's a hold on him and that he faces up to 20 years for extortion here in the U.S. , '' said John Kelly , the attorney for Holloway 's mother . He said Van der Sloot is a `` prolific liar . '' Van der Sloot is being held at the Miguel Castro Castro Prison . He is spending his time teaching English to the guards and is still in solitary confinement , his lawyer said . CNN 's Susan Candiotti contributed to this report .
Defense lawyer has asked judge for lesser charge . Van der Sloot is accused of killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Lima , Lima , 15 years . If found guilty of first -degree murder , Joran Van der Sloot would spend a minimum of last year in prison .