Farkhod Tursunov, 31, was also ordered by the court to pay 4 million rubles (US$130,000) to the family of the 15-year-old Anna Beshnova, who was found dead in the bushes near her apartment building on Ulitsa Kubinka in western Moscow, Itar-Tass reported.

After the girl’s death, ultranationalist groups demanded that city authorities "cleanse" the city of Central Asian migrants and threatened to start their own investigation if the police did not make a quick arrest. Tursunov was arrested several days later, and police said he soon confessed to raping and killing Beshnova.

Beshnova’s family expressed disappointment with the verdict Monday, saying in court that they would appeal for Tursunov’s sentence to be extended to life in prison.

Tursunov’s lawyer, Yury Yefimenkov, told reporters after the trial that he would also file an appeal because "not all of the circumstances were considered during the trial."