He went to jail in 1989 after being identified as a rapist when he sent a picture of himself in an attempt to be a contestant on Winner Takes It All. He lost, went to court and was given a life sentence. I don't know the details of the offence, but the fact he got a life sentence would imply that it was at the most severe end of a particularly nasty scale.
He bought the ticket while on licence in 2004. So he's served at least 15 years for his offence and will be in licence for life. There are plenty of lifers who do less than that. Is there a bit of jealousy in this article? It's not as if he's profited in any way for the actual crime by selling his story like some have done in the past.