A federal judge yesterday gave an Allegheny County man who killed his lover in West Virginia the harshest sentence possible under the terms of a plea bargain -- life in prison.

Eugene J. Talik Jr.'s attorneys advocated for the minimum sentence, 33 years and nine months, for his murder of Kelly Jo Elliott on May 25, 2006.

But U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp Jr. saw things the prosecution's way. He pronounced his sentence in a Wheeling, W.Va., courtroom after hearing from Ms. Elliott's mother and sister and reviewing pictures of the victim and the shallow grave where her body was dumped.

Mr. Talik, 39, of Aleppo, had already been spared the death penalty under the terms of his guilty plea to one count of interstate stalking resulting in death. There is no parole in the federal system.

"We feel justice was served," said Sharon L. Potter, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, citing the premeditated nature of Ms. Elliott's murder.

Mr. Talik, who owned a moving-van company, hired an employee, John Deutsch, to kill Ms. Elliott to prevent her from exposing their affair.

Mr. Talik drove Ms. Elliott in one of his moving vans to the Dallas Pike truck stop east of Wheeling, where Mr. Deutsch attacked the mother of two with a pipe.

Ms. Elliott survived that assault only to be strangled by Mr. Talik. Her burnt remains were found five months later.

Mr. Deutsch, of Freedom, pleaded guilty last year to being an accessory to murder and is serving a 15-year sentence. He helped prosecutors build their case against Mr. Talik.

One of Mr. Talik's attorneys, Thomas J. Saunders of Baltimore, said the judge factored into his decision the crime's planning, the involvement of an accomplice and an attempt to cover up the deed.

"The bottom line is this was totally aberrant to his entire life trajectory," Mr. Saunders said of his client. "He wasn't a criminal. He was a businessman. He had substance abuse problems, but he had been ... a decent man who raised a decent family and went off the edge."

Ms. Potter agreed that Mr. Talik had a clean slate until the Elliott killing, but she said the crime was so heinous and defenseless that a life sentence was warranted.

Testifying on behalf of the government were Mr. Deutsch, Ms. Elliott's mother and sister, and a former girlfriend of Mr. Talik's who said he threatened her not to reveal their affair.

Mr. Talik's oldest child -- a 20-year-old son -- attended the sentencing along with the defendant's parents, wife and sister.

Mr. Talik submitted a letter to the judge and to Ms. Elliott's family. Both documents are under seal.

"On behalf of the family, we're authorized to say they recognize the pain of the Elliott family, they respect the judicial system, they regret that the judge could not see his way to seeing a 33-year sentence instead of life," Mr. Saunders said.