Robert Alan Durst, a fugitive New York real estate agent heir, pleaded guilty in New Orleans federal court on Wednesday to a gun charges, agreeing to a seven-year and one-month prison sentence.
The gun charge dates back to March 2015, when the FBI arrested Durst at the J.W. Marriott Hotel on Canal Street in New Orleans due to suspicion that he was about to flee the country. As authorities prepared to remove him from the premise, they discovered he was in possession of a .38-caliber revolver, which the 72-year-old isn't supposed to have since he is a convicted felon, according to The New York Times.
Under the plea bargain, Durst avoided a 10-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine, instead receiving a lesser punishment of 85 months in prison.
The acceptance of the plea means Durst is one step closer to being extradited to California, where is wanted for the 2000 murder of Susan Berman. He has waived extradition and says he wants to go to Califorina in a bid to prove his innocence, but won't go there until he is formally sentenced, though the plea can be nullified if the judge chooses a different sentence.
"It's our purpose ... to 'clear the decks' of anything and everything that would delay Bob's transfer to California so we can start preparing for trial in the Susan Berman case," attorney Richard DeGuerin said, said according to the New York Post. "Bob Durst didn't kill Susan Berman and doesn't know who did, and he's eager to go to trial and prove it."
Though Durst is only facing trial for a crime committed in 2000, the root of his troubles date back to 1982 when his first wife, Kathleen Durst, abruptly disappeared, reported NBC News. Durst maintains he had nothing to do with her disappearance, but prosecutors argue that he murdered Berman after he learned authorities reopened the investigation into Kathleen's disappearance.
