LOS ANGELES -- A convicted sex offender arrested two years ago in Jacksonville has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2007 disappearance of San Diego State University student Donna Jou, whose body has never been found.

John Steven Burgess entered his guilty plea Wednesday in a Los Angeles courtroom and will be sentenced on May 18. Prosecutors say the 36-year-old Burgess could face five years in prison.

Authorities believe Burgess met Jou, then 19, through an online ad, and the two attended a party where he gave her heroin and cocaine.

Investigators said Burgess told them he panicked after Jou died of an accidental overdose and dumped her body in the ocean.

Burgess was arrested in July 2007 at the Argyle Forest Shopping Center on suspicion of narcotics possession. He had an Orange Park address.

After booking him on a charge of possession of crack cocaine, police discovered that Burgess was wanted in connection with the missing person case and notified California investigators.

Later that week, Jacksonville police found Burgess' 1998 blue Ford Ranger pickup truck and processed it for evidence.

Two months later, not yet charged in Jou's death and while out on $250,000 bail while awaiting a pretrial hearing in Los Angeles on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender, Burgess was arrested on a charge of petty theft in Jacksonville.

Police said Burgess acknowledged stuffing five DVDs in his pocket at the Blockbuster store on Roosevelt Boulevard. He was carrying a fake Social Security card and California drivers' license at the time, according to the police report.

Burgess just finished a three-year prison sentence for failing to register as a sex offender.