Teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo has been sentenced to life in prison for one of 10 killings that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area in October 2002.

Malvo, 19, showed no emotion during sentencing in Chesapeake, Virginia, and said nothing.

Judge Jane Roush also imposed $200,000 US in fines, though acknowledged that Malvo was unlikely to be able to pay.

The sentence was not a surprise because the jury had already recommended the punishment. In Virginia, judges can accept a jury's sentence recommendation or reduce it, but can't increase it. Life in prison is the minimum punishment allowed for a capital murder conviction.

Malvo was 17 at the time of the sniper rampage. Virginia is one of only 21 states that allow the execution of those who were 16 or 17 when they committed murder.

The jury appeared reluctant to impose the death penalty on someone so young and recommended life in prison without possibility of parole.

Relatives of the victims say Malvo isn't facing the justice he deserves. Bob Meyers, whose brother was killed in the attacks, says he thinks the jury was wrong to recommend life, and that "more action'' needs to be taken to address Malvo's crimes.

Though Malvo was suspected in the shooting deaths of 10 people, he was tried and convicted in only one, that of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, who was shot Oct. 14, 2002, outside a Home Depot.

Malvo's accomplice and the suspected mastermind of the rampage, John Allen Muhammad, was sentenced to death Tuesday in the murder of Dean Myers, 53, of Maryland. Muhammad continues to deny any role in the killings.

A jury recommended a death sentence for Muhammad, 43. Though Circuit Court Judge LeRoy Millette Jr. had the option to reduce the sentence to life in prison without parole, he said the evidence of Muhammad's guilt was "overwhelming" and the offences "so vile that they were almost beyond comprehension.''

Millette ordered that the former Gulf War veteran be executed on Oct. 14. That date likely will be postponed to allow appeals.

Muhammad's defence team plans to appeal, noting that under Virginia law, only the shooter can be eligible for the death penalty. They say Muhammad's six-week trial never conclusively determined who was pulling the trigger.

Muhammad and Malvo began the sniper attacks on Oct. 2, 2002, when they shot and killed a 55-year-old man outside a Wheaton, Md., supermarket. The following day, five people were killed in the Washington area as they walked to school, mowed grass or waited at bus stops.

In all, 13 people were shot during the three-week spree and 10 people died.

Muhammad and Malvo were captured Oct. 24 at a highway rest stop near Myersville, Md.

Under interrogation, Malvo claimed initially to be the triggerman in all the shootings, but later recanted and said Muhammad was the gunman in all but the final shooting.

It is unclear what will happen next with Malvo. Prosecutors in other states, including Alabama and Louisiana, are seeking his extradition.

In Alabama, authorities have charged both Malvo and Muhammad with the Sept. 11, 2002 shooting that killed a liquor store manager, Claudine Parker, and critically injured co-worker Kellie Adams.