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CENTRE — Prosecutors last week agreed to a plea deal with the man formerly accused in the kidnapping and murder of Darlene Roberts.

The arrangement means the defendant, Robert John Scheiss III, will serve less than 15 additional months in jail. He will spend five years on probation after his release sometime next winter.

Scheiss had been accused of murder and kidnapping in the April 2006 shotgun death of Darlene Roberts. His accomplice, Barbara Ann Roberts, the ex-wife of the victim’s husband, was convicted of capital murder in June. At the conclusion of her trial, a Cherokee County jury recommended she be sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Scheiss had originally pleaded not guilty by reason of mental defect to three charges of murder and kidnapping. During Wednesday’s proceeding, Judge Rains asked Scheiss if he had voluntarily decided to change his plea to guilty on the lesser charge of kidnapping. He also asked Scheiss if his decision to plead guilty was because he was, in fact, guilty of the crime.

Scheiss, who stood in the courtroom wearing orange prison garments with the words “Cherokee County Detention Center” printed on the back, answered “Yes, sir” to both questions.

Judge Rains then sentenced Scheiss to 20-99 years in state prison. But the time was split, meaning the sentence was automatically reduced to three years. The 650-plus days Scheiss has already served will also be removed from the sentence, Rains explained. As a result, the former brain surgeon could be released on parole sometime before Christmas 2009.

He was also ordered to pay court costs in the amount of $549.

Citing the murder conviction of Barbara Ann Roberts, Judge Rains questioned Cherokee-DeKalb District Attorney Mike O’Dell about what he considered the “obvious disparity” in the state’s decision not to prosecute Scheiss for his part in the plot.

“Your honor, the state is satisfied that Barbara Ann Roberts planned and committed the murder of Darlene Roberts,” O’Dell said. “As we reviewed the evidence in preparation for both trials, we were convinced that Dr. Scheiss was guilty of kidnapping and that that was a reasonable charge and conviction for him to receive in this case.”

After the proceeding, O’Dell told a group of reporters the plea agreement will also spare the family of Darlene Roberts the burden of another court proceeding. Scheiss’s murder trial had been scheduled to take place in the Cherokee County Courthouse this fall.

“We are satisfied that the person who planned and carried out the kidnapping and execution of Darlene Roberts has been convicted of capital murder and is facing, at this point, either life without parole of the death sentence, based on what Judge Rains decides,” he added. “The family is satisfied and ready to go on with their lives.”

Barbara Ann Roberts is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Rains on Aug. 29.