VALPARAISO | When Thomas Forbes was led away to prison five years ago for his role in the murder of fellow Portage resident Robert Nolan, he was facing what amounted to a life behind bars.

His chance of walking out of prison one day may have gotten a whole lot better Monday after striking a deal with prosecutors.

Forbes, 36, was sentenced Monday to 41 years behind bars -- a term he can complete in about 14 years when credit for good behavior and time already served is figured in. His prison term will be followed by eight years on formal probation.

Forbes was sentenced in 2002 to 118 years behind bars for siding up with Cleatus Paul Furlong to murder 46-year-old Nolan, formerly of Lansing, and attempting to hide the crime by encasing Nolan's body in concrete and behind dry wall in the basement of Nolan's home.

The Indiana Court of Appeals came along nearly a year later and threw out his convictions for murder and conspiracy to commit murder, which reduced his sentence from 118 years to 11 years. The court said Forbes did not receive reasonable legal representation.

Prosecutors were preparing to retry the case on Feb. 4 when they struck the deal with Forbes.

While the new prison term is significantly less than the original sentence, the deal pleased Lynn Mundt and two other sisters of the murder victim.

Mundt said the deal brings closure to the case and brings an end to the years of checking in regularly about the status of the case and fearing what could happen if there were another trial.

"It's going to be a hard time in prison," said Jeannie Simonetti.

Debbie Chalifoux said she would like to have seen Forbes publicly apologize for killing her brother.

Forbes declined the opportunity to make a statement during Monday's hearing. He, however, did verify he met with Furlong to discuss killing Nolan and purchased a handgun in Gary that Furlong used to shoot Nolan at his home on May 29, 2001.

Forbes said he and Furlong returned to Nolan's home, at 6678 Vienna Ave. in the Vienna Woods subdivision, and attempted to hide the body in the basement.

Forbes' attorney, Kevin Bolger, of Chicago, said his client is a model inmate and leader at the prison in Michigan City.

He is working on a college degree and attempting to turn his life around, Bolger said.

Furlong, 25, who also had a conspiracy charge thrown out by the appellate court, had his sentence reduced from 118 to 68 years.