By Debbie Emery - Breaking Celebrity News Reporter

Joran van der Sloot was sentenced to 28 years on Friday for the murder of Peruvian student Stephany Flores.

Two days after he pleaded guilty to the 2010 killing of the 21-year-old, the Dutchman stood solemnly in a Lima courtroom as his sentence was handed down.

Van der Sloot has been held in the Castro Castro prison since June 2010, so taking into consideration time served, the 24-year-old will be eligible for release in 2038.

Along with the hefty prison sentence, Joran was also ordered to pay the victim's family $74,500.

As Breaking Celebrity News previously reported, Van der Sloot's lawyer argued that his client killed Flores as a result of "extreme psychological trauma" he suffered from the intense scrutiny thrust upon him after the 2005 disappearance of an Alabama teenager on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

Dressed in a green t-shirt, with shaved hair and sweating profusely, van der Sloot was tearful during the sentencing and told the court he was  "truly sorry" for murdering Flores in a Lima hotel room, and that he initially wanted to "confess sincerely" to her killing.