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Wearing a plaid shirt and red tie, Silver Spring resident Jose Alvarado was taken away from a Montgomery County Circuit Court courtroom in handcuffs Tuesday afternoon to spend the rest of his life in prison for planning the murder of an 83-year-old Wheaton woman.

"Please, I ask you to do justice," 38-year-old Jose Alvarado told Circuit Court Judge Paul H. Weinstein before receiving his sentence and after reviewing photos of his mangled murder victim, Lila Meizell.

Jose Alvarado was charged with first-degree murder in November of last year for paying his cousin, 38-year-old Ramon Alvarado, $1,000 from a forged check to beat, kill and set on fire Meizell, the woman whose money Jose Alvarado stole.

Ramon Alvarado was also sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jose Alvarado's wife, 32-year-old Ana Lilian Rodas, is scheduled to be charged Dec. 29 for accessory after the fact for participating in the planning.

Meizell, who lived alone on Inwood Avenue in Wheaton, was found dead and charred in her living room the night of Nov. 26, 2008. Detectives soon arrested Jose Alvarado, who confessed to adding two zeros to a $75 check Meizell had paid him for yardwork. When the check for $7,500 cleared, he feared being caught —and deported— and came up with a scheme with his wife and cousin to kill Meizell before anyone found out, prosecution and defense attorneys said.

The heinous crime from an otherwise good man was motivated by fear of deportation, said Jose Alvarado's attorney, Rockville-based David Kindermann.

"In this system, we encourage people to hide from authorities," he said Tuesday after the sentencing. Kindermann said he plans to ask for the possibility of parole during an appeals process.

Jose Alvarado hailed from a small town in El Salvador, as did much of his family. Maria Galvez of Silver Spring ended up marrying one of Jose Alvarado's neighbors in El Salvador and has spent the past 10 years celebrating holidays and birthdays with the Alvarado family.

She said Tuesday the murder has devastated the family, which is still in denial that such a loving, hard-working father and husband could be so wicked.

"If he didn't admit it, I would not have believed it," Galvez said Tuesday after the sentencing. Jose Alvarado's mother, who was present at Ramon Alvarado's trial and at her son's sentencing, has been raising her 12-and 15-year-old grandchildren while their parents sit behind bars.

As a result, Jose Alvarado's mother lost her job cooking in a Washington, D.C., restaurant and is under "severe depression," Galvez said.

"She's destroyed," she said, adding the children are also devastated.

Jose Alvarado admitted Tuesday in court his crime was shocking and inexcusable.

"When a person is good to you, there really is no reason for you to do harm to them," he told Judge Weinstein. "I basically lost my mind. I didn't know what would happen in the future."