Rockville, Md. ? Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was sentenced Wednesday in Rockville to life in prison for six murders in Maryland that were part of a three-week shooting spree that terrorized the Washington area in 2002.

In a brief statement, Malvo apologized and said he was a different person than the impressionable teen who killed at the command of John Allen Muhammad, his accomplice and mentor.

“I’m truly sorry, grieved and ashamed for what I’ve done,” said Malvo, his voice breaking.

Despite the contrition and Malvo’s cooperation with authorities in their case against Muhammad, Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Ryan gave Malvo the maximum six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

“You could have been somebody different, you could have been better,” Ryan said. “What you are, however, is a convicted murderer.”

Malvo, 21, pleaded guilty in October to the murders in Montgomery County, where the series of 13 shootings began and ended in October 2002.