WARREN, Maine (AP) The teenage lover who murdered Pamela Smart's husband in 1990 is asking a judge to reduce his prison sentence, 11 years before he is currently set to become eligible for parole.

William Flynn was 16 when Smart recruited him to shoot her husband, Gregory Smart, at the couple's Derry, N.H., condominium. Flynn had been having an affair with Pamela Smart, then 22 years old and a media coordinator at his high school.

In a handwritten letter to a Superior Court judge in Brentwood, N.H., Flynn, now 33, says he waited to ask for a sentence reduction until he had spent as many years behind bars as he had free.

"I have never asked for one, until now, because as terrible of a place as prison is I know I deserved to be here," he wrote.

Flynn says he continues to bear the guilt of his actions and knows he can't make up for what he's done. The letter is accompanied by statements of support from friends, corrections officials and people who work with Flynn at the Maine State Prison in Warren.

Flynn was sentenced in 1992 to 28 years to life. He is not eligible for parole until 2018. No hearing has been scheduled on his request.

Flynn and three friends who helped in the murder received plea deals in exchange for testifying against Smart, who was sentenced to life without parole.

Her lawyers argued that Flynn wanted Gregory Smart out of the way so he could continue the affair. Prosecutors said Smart wanted her husband killed so she wouldn't lose her condo, furniture and dog in a divorce.

Flynn's friend Patrick Randall, who held Gregory Smart down during the shooting, pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder. He is at the same prison and cannot apply for parole until 2018.

Vance Lattime, a friend who drove the getaway car, and Raymond Fowler, who waited in the getaway car, have been paroled.

Flynn married while in prison and has a stepdaughter.