PORT ANGELES — Kevin A. Bradfield has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2011 murder of Jennifer Pimentel.

Clallam County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood handed down the sentence in an hour-long court hearing today.

In January, Bradfield, 23, offered an Alford plea — in which he didn’t admit guilt — to first-degree premeditated murder for the strangulation death of Pimentel in Port Angeles on Oct. 9, 2011.

Pimentel was 27.

Lawyers recommended a 20-year sentence as part of the Alford plea, in which Bradfield admitted there was enough evidence to support a conviction without admitting that he was guilty.

The sentence was in the upper half of the possible range — 20 years was the low end and 26 years, eight months was the maximum.

The state Department of Corrections recommended the maximum sentence in a report that was disputed by the defense.

Wood said he rarely departs from negotiated plea agreements because of their value to the court system and because they spare victims’ family members from the “torment” of trial.

The judge said he felt compelled to stray from the recommended sentence because the case was “particularly troubling” and “disturbing.”

Investigators said Bradfield pushed Pimentel down a set of stairs and strangled her with his bare hands as she pleaded for her life in his girlfriend’s apartment.

Wood found that the murder was premeditated and carried out without motive.

Bradfield and the girlfriend, Kendell K. Huether, led authorities to the body 10 days after Pimentel’s disappearance.

“What strikes me about this is there’s an element of cruelty here that cannot be ignored,” Wood said.

“Jennifer knew she was being killed as her life was being squeezed out of her by Mr. Bradfield.”