Castro Faces Life in Prison, Avoiding Death Penalty

Ariel Castro, who abducted and held three women in his home for 10 years, agreed to a plea deal of life in prison today. Castro will spend the rest of his life in jail without a chance of parole in order to avoid the death penalty. Check out a video of the hearing from this morning here.

Castro will serve life, "plus not less than 1,000 years consecutively to follow life without parole," as sentenced by Judge Michael Russo.

Originally, Castro plead not guilty to 977 charges, including kidnapping, rape, and aggravated murder for ending the pregnancy of one of the women he held hostage. Under the deal, Castro is now pleading guilty to 937 of those charges.

Because of the deal, the women Castro abducted won't have to testify in court. Castro kidnapped and raped Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus, and Michelle Knight, and kept them in his basement for about 10 years. The women escaped on May 6.