Doug Stanglin

USA TODAY

Robert Durst, the one-time fugitive New York real estate heir who faces a murder charge in California, was sentenced Wednesday in New Orleans to seven years and one month in prison under a plea deal on a firearms charge.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt said he would provisionally accept the plea from the 72-year-old Durst and make a final decision after he receives a pre-sentencing report next month, the Associated Press reported.

Durst could have received a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The California murder case was the subject of a six-part HBO documentary in 2015 titled Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. Durst cooperated with the filmmakers, discussing the allegations that he was linked to the 2000 killing of Susan Berman, who purportedly had information regarding the disappearance of his first wife, Kathie Durst, in 1982. Durst has maintained his innocence in the Berman killing.

The documentary also discussed the death and dismemberment of Durst's neighbor Morris Black in 2001.

The previous felony that is part of Durst’s latest deal was a 2004 plea in Pennsylvania to possessing a weapon both while under indictment for Black’s death and while a fugitive on the murder charge. He ultimately testified he killed Black in self-defense and was acquitted of murder.

In 2003, Durst was acquitted in the fatal shooting of a Galveston, Texas, neighbor.

FBI agents tracked Durst to a New Orleans hotel on the eve of the finale of Jinx.



