An Illinois woman accepted legal culpability this week for her role in a home invasion and robbery that left a teenager dead – but she seems likely to avoid spending a substantial amount of time in prison.

On Monday, Katherine E. Smith, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of home invasion – after she had long been charged with murder in the first degree over the February 2018 death of Dohndre Hughes , 19.

A plea deal, however, dashed that initial charge and Smith was sentenced by Sangamon County Circuit Court Associate Judge Rudolph Braud to 13 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on a lone count of home invasion.

But several caveats are at play.

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