NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. -- A Hancock County man accused of torturing and killing dogs will spend at least 10 years in prison.

Media outlets report that 20-year-old Jeffrey Nally Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to nine animal cruelty counts and a weapons charge.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped a kidnapping charge and additional animal cruelty charges.

Hancock County Circuit Judge Fred Fox II sentenced Nally to one to five years on each cruelty charge and one year on the weapons charge. The sentences are to run consecutively.

Nally was arrested on March 9, 2011 at his New Cumberland home, where police say he was holding a woman hostage.

Investigators returned the next day and found the mutilated bodies of 29 dogs in shallow graves or in plastic bags in a wooded area.