FALL RIVER — The cousin of Aaron Hernandez who was charged with criminal contempt after refusing to testify before the grand jury that indicted the former New England Patriot intends to change her plea to guilty, her lawyer said Monday.
Tanya Singleton of Bristol, Conn., had initially pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said she was granted immunity but declined to testify.
E. Peter Parker, her lawyer, said during a brief proceeding in Fall River Superior Court that she will change her plea at the trial scheduled for Aug. 12.
Hernandez, 24, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd of Dorchester, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. The former NFL tight end has also pleaded not guilty, in a separate case, to the shooting deaths of two men in Boston in 2012.
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Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter, said sentencing for criminal contempt is at the judge’s discretion. He would not comment on what the prosecutors will recommend.
Singleton pleaded not guilty to a contempt charge in connection with the Boston case after refusing to testify before a Suffolk County grand jury.
Parker is seeking to consolidate the contempt cases in Fall River, and he said Monday that his client intends to plead guilty in the Boston case as well.
The Suffolk district attorney’s office said Monday afternoon that Singleton was slated to appear in Suffolk Superior Court between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Singleton also faces a charge of conspiracy to commit accessory after the fact in the Lloyd case. She is not changing her not-guilty plea in that case, Parker said.