Chicago man draws 50-year sentences

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A judge in Des Moines has sentenced a Chicago man to dual 50-year prison terms in the murders of two women, but says he can serve them simultaneously.

As he appeared Friday before Polk County District Judge Joel Novak for sentencing, 20-year-old Travaris Chancellor apologized for the hit-and-run deaths of the two Des Moines residents.

Chancellor was convicted on two second-degree murder charges last month in the deaths of 26-year-old Charosa Odie and 45-year-old Brenda Coplen. The women died July 4, shortly after Chancellor hit them with his then-girlfriend's sports utility vehicle.

Novak's ruling that Chancellor may serve the two sentences concurrently will make him eligible for parole once he has served 35 years.

Prosecutors wanted back-to-back sentences, which would have totaled 100 years.