GRAND JUNCTION - A former Lafayette police officer who pleaded guilty Friday to vehicular homicide in the deaths of two 19-year-old college students likely will spend most, if not all, of the rest of his life in prison.

Patrick Strawmatt, 42, admitted to three of 22 charges against him in the March 22 deaths of Jacob Brock, of Eagle, and Jennifer Kois, of Brighton, both students at Mesa State College.

Strawmatt raced away from Colorado State Patrol troopers, after making an obscene gesture at them when they tried to stop him on Interstate 70 near Clifton, sped up and slammed into the rear of a small car at an estimated 120 mph, killing both students, according to court records.

His blood alcohol content was 0.29 percent, more than three times the level at which drivers in Colorado are presumed to be driving under the influence.

Strawmatt pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide and one of vehicular eluding, all felonies, and faces a maximum prison sentence of 72 years.

"It's the right thing to do and not put people through a long and arduous process," Strawmatt told Mesa County District Judge Brian Flynn.

The maximum sentencing range was pushed upward to 24 years on each count, Flynn said, because Strawmatt was on felony probation after shooting his ex-girlfriend's dog in Jefferson County.

However, Strawmatt pleaded not guilty to 19 other charges that could increase his sentence, including first-degree murder through "extreme indifference," first- and second-degree assault and numerous crimes of violence.

Flynn set a Sept. 10 deadline for District Attorney Pete Hautzinger and public defender Dave Eisner to reach an agreement on additional pleas that would resolve the case without a trial.

Should no plea agreement be reached, Strawmatt would stand trial on the remaining 19 charges.

"He made it clear to law enforcement from the first day he didn't want to go to trial and doesn't want the families to go through a trial," Eisner said.

Hautzinger acknowledged that plea negotiations will continue, but "I'm not going to do anything the families don't want me to do. They are most interested in him spending the rest of his life in prison. Their concern is him getting out and doing it again."

Vern and Marilyn Brock, of Eagle, Jacob's parents, and Liane and Peter VanFeldt, of Brighton, Jennifer's mother and stepfather, attended the half-hour hearing Friday, met briefly with Hautzinger and left without comment.

"I can't recall a case of this magnitude where a defendant chose to plead guilty to some counts but not others," Hautzinger said. "The focus is on how much time he spends in prison."

He said prisoners who earn good time can become eligible for parole after serving 37 percent of their sentences.

"Given Judge Flynn's sentencing practices, that could be 72 years, so he'd theoretically be eligible in 26 or 27 years, and he's 42 now," Hautzinger said.

"He didn't plead to any of the counts that carry a crime of violence count, which would mean he'd serve 75 percent of his sentence."

"He's never getting out," Eisner said. "This guy can't survive a 10-year sentence. He needs a heart transplant. And he has the case in Park County."

Strawmatt faces a trial in Park County in October on charges of eluding officers while driving drunk, ramming the patrol car of Sheriff Fred Wegener and punching the sheriff in the face when Wegener tried to remove him from his vehicle last Feb. 15.