A man who told police that he was responsible for a pair of unsolved Lakeland homicides from the 1980s has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

As part of a deal with Polk County prosecutors, 48-year-old Anthony Jackson pleaded no contest earlier this month to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted robbery.

Reports say that Jackson's conviction is related to the 1984 slaying of William Clark Ford Jr. and the 1985 killing of 16-year-old Sharon Cheryl Boyce.

For years, the two fatal shootings remained cold cases until Jackson called 911 on Dec. 10, 2011, and asked officers to meet him on a street corner in Tampa.