Michael DeWayne Jones was just 17 when he was behind the wheel of the black Ford Focus used in the Oklahoma drive-by murder of Australian baseball player Chris Lane.
He won't leave prison until he is a 55-year-old man.
In a surprise move on the eve of his murder trial, the now 19-year-old Jones made a deal with prosecutors on Tuesday and entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder.
He will now be eligible for parole in 36 years.
Jones, who became a father soon after his arrest, was facing life behind bars without the possibility of parole if a jury convicted him of first-degree murder.
The teenager, who had the nickname Tugboat because of his short, chunky stature, looked at Lane's girlfriend Sarah Harper and her family during his sentencing in the Stephens County court in Duncan, Oklahoma.
"I pray for you all daily," Jones told the Harpers, according to The Oklahoman newspaper.
Under the agreement, Jones will not testify against his friend, the alleged shooter Chancey Allen Luna.
Police allege Jones, Luna - 16 at the time of the shooting - and 15-year-old James Edwards were bored and randomly selected Lane as he jogged along a Duncan residential street.
Jones allegedly drove up behind Lane and Luna, from the back seat of the two-door car, leant forward and pulled the trigger of a hand gun out the window.
A single bullet struck the athletic 22-year-old from Melbourne in the back, he fell to the road and died minutes later, struggling to breathe through punctured lungs and other injuries.
Lane had a baseball scholarship at Oklahoma's East Central University and was visiting Harper in her home town of Duncan.
Edwards also did a deal with prosecutors and is expected to be sentenced to an accessory to murder charge, which could lead to more than 20 years behind bars.
Luna's mother Jennifer told AAP on Tuesday prosecutors have not offered her son a deal.
While prosecutors and Edwards say Luna shot the Australian, Luna, now 17, told his mother during a recent jail visit he is innocent.
"He said, 'Mumma, I didn't do it'," Ms Luna told AAP.
But, she fears Luna won't publicly tell his side of the story for fear of his family's safety.
"He said, 'Mumma, I don't want you to get hurt'," she said.
Luna's trial is set for April 13.
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