FALL RIVER, Mass. — A cousin of ex-New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez was spared jail time only because of her advanced cancer, a judge said Tuesday in sentencing her to two years of probation.
Tanya Singleton pleaded guilty to refusing to testify before a grand jury even though she had been granted immunity.
“Ms. Singleton’s health is the only reason she is not being placed in jail,” Fall River Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh said. County jail officials made it clear they could not meet Singleton’s medical needs, the judge said.
Singleton, 38, of Bristol, Connecticut, is subject to GPS monitoring for the entire probationary period, the first year of which must be spent confined to her home, except for medical and legal appointments. She also was ordered to have no contact with Hernandez, any other suspects or witnesses, except for her father, sister and two close friends.
Singleton had refused to testify before a grand jury investigating the July 2013 slaying of Odin Lloyd.
Singleton, who has been undergoing treatment for a recurrence of breast cancer, pleaded guilty to criminal contempt and had faced up to 2 1/2 years in jail.
“Ms. Singleton’s willful conduct was an assault on the rule of law,” Garsh said.
The sentence was in line with what prosecutors requested.
Prosecutors said Singleton has material information about Hernandez and the movements of his friends Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, who both pleaded not guilty to murder and accessory charges in the Lloyd killing.
Singleton also refused to testify in the Boston double killing case and is facing another contempt charge to which she intends to plead guilty.
Photo via Twitter/@BostonGlobe
