Robert Durst, of HBO's 'The Jinx,' gets seven years in prison

NEW ORLEANS, April 27 (UPI) -- Real estate heir and suspected serial killer Robert Durst is going to prison for seven years and one month on a weapons charge.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt signed off on a plea deal in New Orleans on Wednesday between Durst's lawyer and federal prosecutors.

As a previously convicted felon, Durst, 73, had faced a maximum of 10 years and a $250,000 fine for illegally carrying a .38-caliber revolver.

Durst still faces a murder charge in California over the death of his friend Susan Berman in 2000. He allegedly killed her to stop her from speaking to prosecutors about the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen, in 1982.

On Monday, Durst's attorney filed a motion for his client to serve his time at Terminal Island Correctional Institution, near Los Angeles, so that he could be close to his next trial venue and medical facilities.

Durst was arrested in March last year at a New Orleans hotel, days after a California judge signed an arrest warrant for the alleged murder of Berman. He had checked in under the alias "Everette Ward." During a search of his room the FBI discovered a revolver, a mask and more than $40,000 cash. Agents suspected that he was making plans to flee to Cuba.

He was also charged with the murder of neighbor Morris Black in 2001, but was acquitted after claiming self-defense.

Despite being identified as a person of interest in the disappearance of wife Kathleen, Durst has never been charged with her murder. Earlier this year, her family petitioned a New York court to formally declare her dead.

In a 2015 HBO documentary series, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, the former fugitive appeared to mutter to himself that he'd "killed them all, of course." He was seemingly unaware that microphones were still recording him.

Durst's wealthy family runs 1 World Trade Center in New York City. He is estimated to be worth $65 million.