The 53-year-old avoids the death penalty -- there is a murder charge involving a miscarriage a caused -- and will be sentenced to life without parole plus 1,000 years.
The Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive in his home for about a decade agreed to plead guilty today in a deal to avoid the death penalty.
In exchange, Ariel Castro would be sentenced to life without parole plus 1,000 years, prosecutors said.
Castro was in court this morning to enter the guilty plea. When asked if he understood he would never be released from prison, Castro said: “I do understand that, your honor.”
He added, “I knew I was pretty much going to get the book thrown at me.”
The deal comes more than a month after a statement issued on behalf of the women said they were “hopeful for a just and prompt resolution” and had “great faith in the prosecutor’s office and the court.”
Castro, 53, had been scheduled for trial Aug. 5 on a 977-count indictment. The indictment included two counts of aggravated murder related to accusations that he punched and starved one woman until she miscarried. The former school bus driver also was charged with hundreds of counts of kidnapping and rape, plus assault and other counts.
The women escaped May 6 from Castro’s house when one of them kicked out part of a door and called to neighbors for help. Castro was arrested within hours and has remained behind bars.
News that Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight had been found alive electrified the Cleveland area, where two of them were household names after years of searches, publicity and vigils. But elation soon turned to shock as allegations about their treatment began to emerge.