MEMPHIS — The widow of a Shelby County code inspector says she’s relieved that a Memphis gun dealer has finally acknowledged killing her husband, whose body has never been found.

Court documents show 57-year-old Dale Mardis, who is white, pleaded guilty Monday to the 2001 murder of 46-year-old Mickey Wright, who was black. Prosecutors have argued that Mardis committed a racially motivated hate crime when he killed Wright.

Mardis faces up to life in federal prison. He already had pleaded no contest in state court to second-degree murder in 2007 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The victim’s widow, Frances Wright, told The Commercial Appeal that 10 years of legal battles have finally paid off and that “Mickey has been crying out for justice.”