<p>Maurilio Lamas Sanchez, center, listens through a Spanish interpreter as he pleads guilty Monday in circuit court in Pendleton to first-degree manslaughter for slaying his wife in 2010.</p>

Maurilio Lamas Sanchez pleaded guilty Monday morning to first-degree manslaughter for killing his wife in 2010. And Circuit Court Judge Christopher Brauer sentenced Sanchez to 20 years for the crime.

Sanchez, 48, gave the plea in Pendleton circuit court three years and one day after killing Hilaria Sanchez, 41, in their Hermiston trailer home. The couples children were present at the time of the slaying, according to police sources.

Circuit Court Judge Christopher Brauer asked Sanchez how he pleaded to the charge of first-degree manslaughter. Sanchez, who had the help of an interpreter, answered guilty.

Sanchez faced a murder charge, but accepted an offer from Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus to plead to the lesser crime and receive a 20-year prison sentence, minus the three years he has been in custody. The sentence is the maximum for the crime and twice the mandatory minimum. Brauer said the states recommendation of 20 years was due to the crimes aggravating circumstances of deliberate cruelty and loss significantly greater than typical.

Sanchez wont be eligible for early parole or reductions to the sentence, which is five year less than the 25-year minimum for murder in Oregon.

Sanchez also told the judge he agreed with the deal. His public defender, Doug Fischer of Pendleton, told the court Sanchez was new to the U.S. legal system and was under significant mental duress, such that he almost spent two years in the state hospital (in Salem) obtaining the ability to assist in his defense.

In the past several months, Fischer said, Sanchez made remarkable progress in understanding the legal system and his situation.

Sanchez declined to address the court. Several members of his family were present, including a child, and they also declined to say anything.

Sanchezs next stop is Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Wilsonville, which handles all intake for inmates in the Oregon prison system.

Contact Phil Wright at pwright@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0833.