credit CNN

CNN) -- Joran van der Sloot told a judge and prosecutor Tuesday that he would prefer to finish serving a 28-year murder sentence in Peru rather than be extradited to the United States to face charges related to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, his Peruvian lawyer said. Representatives from the U.S. Embassy and the FBI attended the extradition hearing, which was not open to the public, Maximo Altez told InSession on Tru TV. A conviction in the United States could affect van der Sloot's chances of being paroled in Peru, said Altez. He noted that a long-standing extradition treaty between the two countries means that van der Sloot will likely be extradited, despite his stated preference about remaining in Peru. Peruvian judges in January sentenced the Dutchman to 28 years in prison for the murder in 2010 of Stephany Flores. He is also the prime suspect in the disappearance of Holloway. U.S. authorities want to try van der Sloot on charges of extortion and wire fraud in the Holloway case. I think he will be extradited within the next three months," Altez said last month. "He will go to trial in the United States. Once he is sentenced, he will return to Peru to finish serving his 28 years, and then go back to the States to serve whatever sentence he gets there." In June 2010, a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted him after allegations that he tried to extort $250,000 from Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway. Van der Sloot offered to provide what turned out to be bogus information about the whereabouts of Holloway's remains in exchange for the money, according to the indictment. He was allegedly given $25,000, which authorities say he used to travel to Peru for a poker tournament. If found guilty of extortion, he could be sentenced to 25 years in prison. Van der Sloot admitted to killing Flores, 21, in his Lima hotel room. The judges gave him a sentence two years short of the 30-year maximum. They ordered he be expelled from Peru at the end of his sentence and required him to pay about $74,500 in reparations to Flores' relatives. Van der Sloot confessed to robbery in addition to murder, admitting that he stole Flores' belongings, including more than $300 in local currency, credit cards and the victim's van as a means to leave the country. He fled to Chile and was arrested a few days later. Another van der Sloot attorney, Jose Luis Jimenez, has said that his client was under special stress the day of the 2010 murder, which marked five years after Holloway, an 18-year-old from Alabama, disappeared while vacationing on Aruba. Van der Sloot, who was among the last people reported to have been seen with Holloway, was detained twice but never charged in the case. "The world had been against him for five years before this case, for a murder he said he never committed and for which there is no evidence whatsoever," Jimenez has said. Investigators have said they believe van der Sloot killed Flores after she found something related to the Holloway case on his computer while visiting him in his hotel room. The two met while van der Sloot was in town for the poker tournament. Judges described how Flores hit van der Sloot in the face after reading the item on Holloway, leading him to hit her in the face with his elbow. Flores fainted and van der Sloot tried to strangle her, but she was still breathing, so he suffocated her with his shirt. Van der Sloot then tried to clean the room by removing the sheets and changing his bloodied shirt, they said. He was caught in a taxi near the Chilean central coastal city of Vina del Mar. Holloway's body has not been found, and no one has been charged in relation to the case in Aruba. About 6½ years after Holloway was last reported seen, in May 2005, she was declared legally dead.

Joran van der Sloot

UPDATE: 8: 19 p.m. -- The process to extradite Joran van der Sloot from Peru to the United States has begun, CNN reports. Documents obtained by Maximo Altez, van der Sloot's attorney, show a judge has approved the U.S. request for a provisional detention, the first step in sending him to America to face charges for extorting money from the mother of missing teen Natalee Holloway. PREVIOUSLY: Joran van der Sloot, the convicted killer of a young Peruvian woman and the prime suspect in the disappearance of missing American teen Natalee Holloway, could soon be extradited to the United States. Van der Sloot's attorney, Maximo Altez, has confirmed Peruvian authorities are evaluating a request by the U.S. to extradite the Dutchman for extorting Holloway's mother. Altez said his client is afraid of extradition because U.S. prisons have a reputation for being "very hard" on inmates, according to the Associated Press. On Jan. 13, Van der Sloot, 24, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for the murder of Stephany Flores. The Peruvian business student was found stabbed to death in van der Sloot's Lima hotel room on June 2, 2010. Police in Peru say Flores, 21, was killed on May 30, the five-year anniversary of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old from Mountain Brook, Ala., who vanished while on a class trip to Aruba. She was last seen leaving an Oranjestad nightclub with van der Sloot, then a 17-year-old Dutch honors student living in Aruba. Holloway's body has never been found, and van der Sloot has not been charged in her disappearance. He was, however, indicted in the U.S. on charges that he extorted $25,000 from the young woman's parents. Prosecutors said that in exchange for the money, he promised to reveal how Holloway died and the location of her body. Van der Sloot would probably face a five- to 10-year sentence for the alleged extortion. The most recent developments were predicted months ago by Michael Griffith, senior partner at the International Legal Defense Counsel. In a previous interview with The Huffington Post, Griffith, whose most renowned case, involving an American incarcerated in a Turkish prison, was the basis for the film and book "Midnight Express." said he expected van der Sloot to be extradited. However, Griffith said the move would likely be a ploy so the U.S. could get him in their grips for Holloway’s alleged murder -- something that could earn him a life sentence. "The key to that is that the U.S. has jurisdiction over anybody, anywhere in the world, who kills or injures a U.S. citizen. It kind of originated with the Leon Klinghoffer case," said Griffith. In 1985, Klinghoffer, 69, and his wife were celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary on the cruise ship Achille Lauro. Palestinian terrorists hijacked the liner, and Klinghoffer was murdered and thrown overboard. The hijackers were later given safe passage on a flight to Tunisia, but U.S. military forces intercepted the plane and forced it to land in Italy, where the suspects were taken into custody. That principle, which has been used in limited cases, is being used more often today and could be applied to the Holloway case. Van der Sloot's alleged statements, along with his previous confessions in the case, are enough for U.S. authorities to make a circumstantial murder case against him, Griffith said. Joran van der Sloot attends the continuation of his murder trial at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 11, 2012. Van der Sloot pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino who was killed five years to the day of the unsolved disappearance in Aruba of an American teen in which he remains the main suspect. Whether or not van der Sloot is charged with murder in the U.S. is yet to be seen. However, Max Altez, the attorney who briefly represented van der Sloot after his arrest in the Flores case, said he expects authorities in Peru to agree to the extradition. He also expects his former client to be found guilty of extortion. "He will be sentenced in U.S. and then be brought to Peru to serve his sentence for the murder of Stephany Flores," Altez predicted to News America . Authorities in Peru have yet to comment on when they will make a decision on the extradition. Meanwhile, van der Sloot remains imprisoned at Piedras Gordas prison in Ancon. credit huffingtonpost

Natalee Holloway Suspect To Be Extradited To U.S.

Joran Van Der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of American Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005, will soon be extradited to the U.S. to face charges of extortion. He is currently in Peru serving 28 years for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, who was stabbed to death in his hotel room. Van Der Sloot confessed to the murder as well as robbery, saying he took cash and the victim’s car in which to escape. The 24-year old was the last person to see Natalee Holloway alive and told authorities he would lead them to her body and reveal how she died in exchange for $250,000. He was allegedly given $25,000 by Holloway’s mother, Beth, which he used to travel without revealing any of the promised information. He faces a sentence of 25 years if found guilty of extortion, and the extradition will commence within the next few months. But some think the U.S. courts want Van Der Sloot here in the states so that a trial can be held regarding Holloway’s death, which will be difficult since her body has never been found. She has, however, been declared legally dead, and officials believe Van Der Sloot murdered Stephany Flores because she found incriminating evidence on his computer. “The key to that is that the U.S. has jurisdiction over anybody, anywhere in the world, who kills or injures a U.S. citizen,” said Michael Griffith, senior partner for the International Legal Defense Council. On Van Der Sloot’s future, his Peruvian attorney, Maximo Altez, said, “I think he will be extradited within the next three months. He will go to trial in the United States. Once he is sentenced, he will return to Peru to finish serving his 28 years, and then go back to the States to serve whatever sentence he gets there.”

Van der Sloot sentenced to 28 years

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: With time served, Joran van der Sloot will be released in 2038
• Judges order van der Sloot to pay about $74,500 in reparations
• He's also ordered expelled from Peru after completing his sentence
• Van der Sloot was visibly upset after the sentencing

(CNN) -- Peruvian judges on Friday sentenced Dutch national Joran van der Sloot to 28 years in prison and ordered him to pay thousands of dollars in reparations for the killing of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman in 2010.
Van der Sloot, who was visibly upset after the decision was issued, admitted this week to killing Stephany Flores in his Lima hotel room. The judges said they took his confession into account, but they still gave him a sentence two years short of the 30-year maximum.
With time served, it means van der Sloot is scheduled to be released June 10, 2038.
The defendant, 24, stood for much of the more than two-hour session and perspired through his green t-shirt. He drank three cups of water and frequently wiped his face.
The judges ordered van der Sloot expelled from Peru at the end of his sentence and ordered him to pay 200,000 Peruvian new soles, or about $74,500, in reparations to Flores' closest relatives.
Van der Sloot confessed to robbery in addition to murder, admitting that he stole Flores' belongings, including 850 soles (more than $300), credit cards, and the victim's van as a means to leave the country. He fled to Chile and was arrested a few days later.

Van der Sloot pleads guilty to murder

Natalee Holloway declared legally dead

Joran van der Sloot: 'I feel very bad'

Nancy Grace: 'Cut his mic'

It was an apparent attempt to win a more lenient sentence, using a plea called an "anticipated conclusion of the process" under Peruvian law. Five days earlier, the three judges delayed the start of van der Sloot's trial after he declined to give a plea after expressing reservations about the "aggravating factors" tied to admitting his guilt.
Van der Sloot's attorney, Jose Luis Jimenez, pressed earlier this week for a shorter sentence.
Jimenez claimed that his client was under special stress the day the 2010 murder occurred, which marked five years after Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba.
Van der Sloot -- who, with two others, was among the last people seen with Holloway - was detained twice, but never charged, in the high-profile international case.
"He was pointed at and persecuted. The world had been against him for five years before this case, for a murder he said he never committed and for which there is no evidence whatsoever," said Jimenez.
Investigators have said they believe van der Sloot killed Flores after she found something related to the Holloway case on his computer while visiting him in his hotel room. The two met while van der Sloot was in town for a poker tournament.
Judges on Friday recounted the crime in detail. They described how Flores hit van der Sloot in the face after reading the item on Holloway, leading him to hit her in the face with his elbow. Flores fainted and van der Sloot tried to strangle her, but she was still breathing and so he suffocated her with his shirt.
Van der Sloot then tried to clean the room by removing the sheets and changing his bloodied shirt, they said.
He was ultimately caught while traveling alone in a taxi near the Chilean central coastal city of Vina del Mar.
Holloway's body has never been found, and no one has been charged in relation to the case in Aruba. But van der Sloot does face possible extradition to the United States in a related matter.
In June 2010, a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted him on charges of wire fraud and extortion after allegations surfaced that he tried to extort $250,000 from Holloway's mother, Beth. Van der Sloot offered to provide what turned out to be bogus information about the whereabouts of Holloway's remains in exchange for the money, according to the indictment.
He was allegedly given a total of $25,000, and authorities believe he used that money to travel to Peru for the poker tournament.
Thursday, about six and a half years after Holloway went missing, Alabama Probate Judge Alan King signed an order declaring the teenager legally dead.

Natalee Holloway legally dead

Natalee Holloway legally dead

By msnbc.com staff and news servicesBIRMINGHAM, Ala. - An Alabama judge agreed Thursday to declare Natalee Holloway legally dead, more than six years after the teenager vanished on the Caribbean island of Aruba.
Judge Alan King announced his decision at a hearing Thursday requested by the teen's father, Dave Holloway, who was in court with Beth Holloway, his ex-wife and Natalee's mother. He told the judge in September he believed his daughter had died and he wanted to stop paying her medical insurance and use her college fund for her brother.
Thursday's hearing had been scheduled before a suspect questioned in Holloway's disappearance, Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Peru to the 2010 murder of a woman there.

Natalee Holloway disappeared on a high school graduation trip May 30, 2005. She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot. Her body was never found.
One of Dave Holloway's attorneys, J. Mark White, said at Thursday's hearing, "No evidence has been found that Natalee Holloway is alive," reported The Birmingham News.
Dave Holloway said he had expected to hear the judge would declare his daughter dead because he had no doubt about that. "We've been dealing with her death for the last six and a half years," he said.
He added that the judge's order closes one chapter in a long story, but added: "We've still got a long way to go to get justice.
Beth Holloway, Natalee's mom, didn't speak at the hearing, but her lawyer said she supported the request to declare her daughter legally dead, according to The Birmingham News.

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Natalee Holloway of Mountain Brook, Ala. went missing while on a high school graduation trip in Aruba.

Holloway suspect: I killed woman in Peru
On Wednesday, Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old woman who died five years to the day after the disappearance of Holloway.
Van der Sloot was arrested twice in the Holloway case but he was never charged due to a lack of evidence. Holloway's family has criticized Dutch authorities for not making more progress in the case.
Van der Sloot has told police he strangled Flores, a skilled poker player and the daughter of a wealthy businessman, after he found her looking at his laptop computer in his hotel room.
The laptop contained emails about Holloway's death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Judge asked to declare Natalee Holloway dead

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A judge holds a hearing Thursday on whether to sign a court order declaring Natalee Holloway dead more than six years after she disappeared in Aruba. The hearing comes one day after a suspect questioned in her disappearance, Joran van der Sloot, pleaded guilty to killing a woman in Peru.
Jefferson County Probate Judge Alan King is hearing a request by Natalee Holloway's father to have her declared dead. The judge ruled in September that Dave Holloway had met the legal presumption of death and it was up to someone to prove she didn't die on a high school graduation trip. The father's attorney, Mark White, says no new evidence has come forward and he will ask the judge to rule her dead.
Attorneys say both parents plan to attend.

Dutch national Joran Van der Sloot as he arrived for a court hearing earlier today (Jan. 11, 2012) at the Lurigancho prison in Lima.

Ernesto Benavides /AFP/Getty Images

Dutch national Joran Van der Sloot as he arrived for a court hearing earlier today (Jan. 11, 2012) at the Lurigancho prison in Lima.

Joran van der Sloot, the main suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba, this morning pleaded guilty to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman, Stephany Flores, in Lima.
The Associated Press reports that van der Sloot told a court in Lima that "yes, I want to plead guilty. I wanted from the first moment to confess sincerely. ... I truly am sorry for this act. I feel very bad."
The wire service adds that:

"Van der Sloot claimed in a confession shortly after the May 30, 2010, murder [of Flores] that he killed her in a fit of rage after she discovered on his laptop his connection to the disappearance of Holloway. But prosecutors say Van der Sloot killed Flores, a business student from a prominent family, in order to rob her after learning she had won money at the casino where the two met."

CNN, which live blogged today's court hearing, says van der Sloot will be sentenced on Friday. The news network says that:

"The 24-year-old Dutch national faces a sentence of 30 years in prison, but his attorney hopes his guilty plea, called an 'anticipated conclusion of the process,' will reduce that term."

As NBC-TV's The Today Show reminds us, "van der Sloot was arrested twice in the Holloway case but he was never charged due to a lack of evidence. Holloway's family has criticized Dutch authorities for not making more progress in the case."