BRIDGEPORT Conn.

A federal judge has cut seven years off the prison sentence of the man who killed reputed New Haven mob underboss William Grasso two decades ago, after tearful pleas that he was a changed man.

U.S. District Judge Alan Nevas on Wednesday approved a deal reached by prosecutors and defense lawyers to reduce Gaetano Milano's 33-year prison sentence to 26 years. The agreement was made after Nevas ruled last month that Milano received ineffective legal representation.

Milano, 56, was sentenced in 1991 for the 1989 murder of Grasso, who was the reputed second-in-command of the Patriarca crime family. He will get out of prison in about four years under the new sentence.

Milano's lawyer, Craig Raabe, says his client has been a model prisoner who found faith, counsels troubled youth and other inmates and practices yoga.

Nevas was impressed by Milano's efforts to improve himself, noting that even prison staff members wrote letters on Milano's behalf about his rehabilitation.

"So your rehabilitation, Mr. Milano, has been extraordinary and remarkable," the judge said. But he added, "You did commit a terrible crime. The description of the actual crime itself was chilling."

Milano said in the courtroom that "it's been an incredible odyssey." He expressed remorse and said he takes full responsibility for his actions.

Milano, who took up art in prison, complimented a painting of Nevas on the wall in the courtroom, drawing laughter when he said, "I don't think I could do better than that." The judge later commended Milano for his paintings.

Grasso, who lived in New Haven, rose in the 1980s to become second in command, of the Patriarca crime family. Nicknamed "The Wild Guy," Grasso was shot to death in June 1989 and his body dumped near the Connecticut River.

At Milano's 1991 trial, prosecutors said Grasso's own men killed him because of his greed and ruthlessness and because of a power struggle within the New England mob.

Milano said his legal counsel was ineffective because he should have been allowed to argue that the killing stemmed from "extreme emotional disturbance." He said he was caught in the middle of a dangerous conflict between the Providence and Boston factions of the mob. Grasso was part of the Providence faction.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press