OMAHA, Neb. -- The man charged in the slaying of 12-year-old Amber Harris appeared in court on Tuesday and denied some of the charges read against him.

Roy Ellis was sentenced as a habitual criminal, which means he'll serve 60 years in prison, prosecutors said. The earliest he will be eligible for parole is after 35 years. He pleaded no contest to witness tampering in January.

Ellis has 11 felonies on his record dating back to 1975, including two sexual assaults of children. Judge Gregory Shatz read his criminal record in court, including weapons charges, robberies and assaults.

Ellis argued with the judge, saying, "Some of the things you read off, I don't know anything about."

The judge told Ellis he's a menace to society.

"I owe it to society to protect them from you," Shatz said.

Ellis will go on trial for Amber's death this fall. Her mother, Melissa, was in court on Tuesday and hugged the man's former girlfriend as his sentence was read. The women have supported each other through his recent court proceedings.

"I think what frustrated me was him sitting up there trying to defend himself," Melissa Harris said after the proceeding let out. "Everything is true that they said, and I just think he has a lot of nerve and he got what he deserves."

Harris said she and the woman Ellis had been involved with were both pleased to know he can't get out of prison until he's an old man.

"I just told her to be strong and to look at him. He's not going to hurt her, or any of us, ever," Harris said.

Ellis' attorney, Patrick Dunn, said Tuesday's sentencing wasn't about witness tampering. It was about trying to keep Ellis behind bars for a crime he has not yet been convicted of -- the slaying of Amber Harris.