Damian Bradford

AKRON, Ohio — A man who shot and killed a wealthy Pennsylvania doctor along an Ohio highway for the promise of half of his lover's multimillion-dollar inheritance was sentenced Wednesday to 17½ years in prison as expected following his guilty plea.

Damian Bradford, 25, Monaca apologized in U.S. District Court to the doctor's family, saying he regretted killing Dr. Gulam Moonda, who had never even spoken to him.

"I can't express how sorry I am for the action that occurred. I made the decision to do what I did," Bradford said.

Prosecutors agreed to a plea deal with Bradford in exchange for his testimony against his lover, Donna Moonda, who was convicted last week of murder-for-hire and other charges in her husband's slaying.

Bradford testified at Moonda's trial that on the day of the shooting in 2005, he followed the couple as they left their home in Hermitage and pulled in behind them when Donna Moonda stopped their Jaguar along the Ohio Turnpike. He ran to the passenger side of the car and shot the doctor in the head.

Prosecutors argued Moonda, 48, grew tired of her marriage and offered her younger lover, Bradford, a share of her husband's estate if he killed the 69-year-old doctor. Her defense argued Bradford acted alone.

The doctor had more than $3 million, plus life insurance policies totaling $676,000.

Bradford could have received 30 years to life in prison on charges of interstate stalking and using or carrying a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.

Donna Moonda could receive the death penalty or life in prison without parole when sentenced next week.