Updated

A man convicted of murdering a woman in a Times Square budget hotel has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, nearly a decade after the killing.

Clarence Dean was sentenced Monday.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. says Dean "committed a merciless and brutal act of violence against a vulnerable woman."

Dean's lawyer didn't immediately return a call Monday for comment. He has said Dean plans to appeal.

Prosecutors said Dean killed Kristine Yitref in a rage in August 2007.

He was a convicted sex offender. She was a onetime design student who had become a drug-addicted prostitute.

Dean admitted choking Yitref, but denied killing her. He said he blacked out while defending himself from her and her pimp.