Well, on the bright side, at least he was being honest. Plus, at least the crime in which he was convicted of/sentenced to allowed him the opportunity to be paroled. Meaning: he's probably not some mass-murderer and his crime didn't carry a "Life" term.
And better still, he'd probably nut quick.
..just sayin' that it may or may not be all that bad. It just depends on whether you're a "glass is half-full/half-empty" type a' person.