Peruvian judges on Friday sentenced Dutch national Joran van der Sloot to 28 years in prison and ordered him to pay thousands of dollars in reparations for the killing of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman in 2010 . Van der Sloot , who was visibly upset after the decision was issued , admitted this week to killing Stephany Flores in his Lima hotel room . The judges said they took his confession into account , but they still gave him a sentence two years short of the 30-year maximum . With time served , it means van der Sloot is scheduled to be released June 10 , 2038 . The defendant , 24 , stood for much of the more than two-hour session and perspired through his green t-shirt . He drank three cups of water and frequently wiped his face . The judges ordered van der Sloot expelled from Peru at the end of his sentence and ordered him to pay 200,000 Peruvian new soles , or about $ 74,500 , in reparations to Flores ' closest relatives . Van der Sloot confessed to robbery in addition to murder , admitting that he stole Flores ' belongings , including 850 soles ( more than $ 300 ) , credit cards , and the victim 's van as a means to leave the country . He fled to Chile and was arrested a few days later . It was an apparent attempt to win a more lenient sentence , using a plea called an `` anticipated conclusion of the process '' under Peruvian law . Five days earlier , the three judges delayed the start of van der Sloot 's trial after he declined to give a plea after expressing reservations about the `` aggravating factors '' tied to admitting his guilt . Van der Sloot 's attorney , Jose Luis Jimenez , pressed earlier this week for a shorter sentence . Jimenez claimed that his client was under special stress the day the 2010 murder occurred , which marked five years after Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba . Van der Sloot -- who , with two others , was among the last people seen with Holloway - was detained twice , but never charged , in the high-profile international case . `` He was pointed at and persecuted . The world had been against him for five years before this case , for a murder he said he never committed and for which there is no evidence whatsoever , '' said Jimenez . Investigators have said they believe van der Sloot killed Flores after she found something related to the Holloway case on his computer while visiting him in his hotel room . The two met while van der Sloot was in town for a poker tournament . Judges on Friday recounted the crime in detail . They described how Flores hit van der Sloot in the face after reading the item on Holloway , leading him to hit her in the face with his elbow . Flores fainted and van der Sloot tried to strangle her , but she was still breathing and so he suffocated her with his shirt . Van der Sloot then tried to clean the room by removing the sheets and changing his bloodied shirt , they said . He was ultimately caught while traveling alone in a taxi near the Chilean central coastal city of Vina del Mar . Holloway 's body has never been found , and no one has been charged in relation to the case in Aruba . But van der Sloot does face possible extradition to the United States in a related matter . In June 2010 , a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted him on charges of wire fraud and extortion after allegations surfaced that he tried to extort $ 250,000 from Holloway 's mother , Beth . Van der Sloot offered to provide what turned out to be bogus information about the whereabouts of Holloway 's remains in exchange for the money , according to the indictment . He was allegedly given a total of $ 25,000 , and authorities believe he used that money to travel to Peru for the poker tournament . Thursday , about six and a half years after Holloway went missing , Alabama Probate Judge Alan King signed an order declaring the teenager legally dead .
With time served , Joran van der Sloot will be released in 2038 . Judges order van der Sloot to pay about $ 74,500 in reparations . Comment: Van der Sloot was visibly upset after the sentencing .