An American woman who helped kill her mother and put her body in a suitcase while on vacation in Bali in 2014 has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. In 2015, Heather Mack was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Indonesia, but was released in 2021.

She was subsequently arrested upon arrival in the United States and charged with conspiracy to murder an American citizen. Mack has spent the last two years in a Chicago jail awaiting sentencing. On Wednesday, Judge Matthew Kennelly ruled that she would be given credit for time already served, reducing her official sentence to about 23 years.

Prosecutors proposed a 28-year prison sentence for Mack, who conspired with her then-boyfriend Tommy Schaefer to kill her mother, wealthy professor Sheila von Wiese-Mack. The couple reportedly did this to gain access to a $1,5 million foundation.

Prosecutors alleged that Mack, who was 18 and pregnant at the time of the murder, covered her mother's mouth as Schaefer hit her over the head with a bowl of fruit. The body was later discovered in a suitcase.

After killing her at the hotel, Mack and Schaefer left a suitcase containing her remains in the trunk of a taxi, prosecutors said. The driver later informed the police. The couple was later discovered in another hotel in Bali.

Mac initially pleaded not guilty to the US charges, but changed her plea after prosecutors offered her a deal. They initially sought a much longer sentence.

During the sentencing, the victim's brother, Bill Wiese, asked the court to impose the maximum possible sentence, arguing that Mack had shown no remorse for the crime. "If I had my way, Heather would have spent the rest of her life behind bars," Wiese said.

Schaefer, who is also named in the US indictment, remains in prison in Indonesia.