Associated Press - March 12, 2010 12:14 PM ET

GRETNA, La. (AP) - A West Virginia woman accused with her boyfriend of strangling her grandfather in Louisiana and driving the body to her home state has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

Thirty-9-year-old Mary Crawford of Gerrardstown, W.Va. pleaded guilty Thursday after the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office dismissed a charge of second-degree murder. She had been accused with her then-boyfriend 34-year-old Shawn Cole of killing 81-year-old Henry Ramirez on Jan. 6, 2005.

In approving the plea deal, a judge sentenced Crawford to 25 years in prison. She had been scheduled to be tried next week and faced a mandatory life sentence if convicted of the murder charge.

Cole pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Dec. 9. He is scheduled to be sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday.

Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com

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