An undocumented immigrant day laborer who has admitted to bludgeoning an elderly socialite to death at her New York mansion was sentenced this morning to 22 years to life in prison after telling the court he wished he could trade placed with his victim.

Esdras Marroquin Gomez, 34, learned his fate after reading a letter through a Spanish interpreter, in which he expressed remorse for taking the life of 83-year-old Lois Colley, the wife of millionaire McDonald's franchisee Eugene Colley, at her 300-acre North Salem estate in November 2015.

Gomez, who entered a guilty plea to a charge of second-degree murder last month, asked for forgiveness from God 'for having taken the life of a human being and doing horrible damage to the Colley family.'

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Esdras Marroquin Gomez, 34, was sentenced on Thursday (pictured) to 22 years to life in prison for the bludgeoning death of Lois Colley

Gomez (left) acknowledged his 'mistake' in court and said he would have liked to die instead of the 83-year-old wife, mother and grandmother (pictured right with her millionaire husband, Eugene Colley)

He continued, saying: 'I am a human being who made a mistake. If I could turn back time and change the situation, I would be willing to give my own life in exchange for Mrs. Colley's life.'

At the request of the prosecution, Westchester County Judge George Fufidio handed Gomez a sentence near the top of the allowed range, saying the defendant 'brutally and savagely' beat Colley after she offered to give him cab fare to travel to her husband's office, reported the Rockland/Westchester Journal News.

Colley's family, including her husband of 65 years and their four sons and grandchildren, were on hand in court to witness Gomez's sentencing and delivered emotional impact statements.

Westchester Assistant District Attorney Julia Cornachio read a letter on behalf of Eugene Colley, in which the wealthy businessman said, in part, that finding his wife lying dead in a pool of blood was worse than anything he ever witnessed during World War II.

Colley's body was found inside her 300-acre North Salem estate (pictured) in November 2015

A prosecutor spoke of the callousness of bashing the 83-year-old woman (pictured) in the face with a fire extinguisher

Colley's son Bryan called his mother's murder the 'definition of evil.'

'Both her mother and her grandmother lived into their late 90s, and we all hoped, dreamed, and bluntly pretty much expected that mom would too,' he went on, according to CBS New York. 'I must say that I have every reason to believe that she would have but for the heinous acts of Victor Gomez.'

Bryan Colley's daughter, Christine, described Gomez as 'disgraceful' and spoke of her sadness and anger at having lost her beloved grandmother.

Gomez never provided a clear motive for why he attacked Lois Colley with a small fire extinguisher.

On Thursday, Gomez's attorney said her client was left without means after a serious chainsaw injury on the Colley family's 300-acre property in North Salem, New York, in 2013.

Attorney Cynthia Lobo told the court that Gomez was hurt that Eugene Colley, for whom he had worked on and off for nearly three years, made no effort to check up on him.

On the evening of November 9, 2015, Gomez had come to the house to talk to Eugene Colley about worker's compensation.

Lois told Gomez her husband was not home and asked him to leave.

Instead, prosecutors said the former day laborer picked up the fire extinguisher and attacked the octogenarian grandmother, leaving her for dead in the laundry room.

Gomez, who was living in the US illegally, had gone to the house to talk about a worker's compensation claim

'This defendant bashed her face in' Cornachio said. 'The callousness and evil that that required...is incomprehensible.'

A caretaker found her body in the laundry room. Mrs Colley died of blunt force trauma.

At the time, police discovered a pin from a fire extinguisher next to Colley’s body.

There was no sign of forced entry, according to police. No valuables were taken. All that was missing was the extinguisher.

A few days later, the extinguisher was recovered in a pond on the property. It was wrapped in a plastic bag and had Colley’s DNA on it.

During the investigation, authorities learned that Gomez, an illegal immigrant, had fled to his native Guatemala and then Mexico by the time they realized he was a suspect.

Authorities had been planning to get him extradited back to the US when he was deported by Mexican authorities.

Gomez was arrested in November 2017 after authorities tracked him down in Miami, Florida.

Colley is the mother of Bruce Colley, the wealthy playboy whose 2003 affair with Kerry Kennedy resulted in the end of her marriage to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Eugene gained his wealth through more than 100 McDonald's franchises.