An ex-Guatemalan soldier has been sentenced to 6,060 years in prison for his role in the 1982 massacre of 201 people.

A court sentenced Pedro Pimentel to 30 years in prison for each of the 201 victims, plus 30 years for crimes against humanity. The sentence is largely symbolic, since the maximum prison term under Guatemalan law is 50 years. Pimentel was extradited from the United States last year to face the charges.

Four other soldiers have received similar sentences.

The horrific killings occurred in December 1982, when dozens of soldiers raided the village of Dos Erres searching for missing weapons. The soldiers then bludgeoned the villagers to death with a sledgehammer before throwing them down a deep well.

The massacre occurred during the bloody 36-year civil war that ended in 1996.