A Glouster woman connected to the October slaying of her father-in-law was sentenced to nearly five years in prison Tuesday.
Rhonda Degarmore, 37, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging one count of theft, one count of receiving stolen property and one count of obstructing justice.
“Rhonda Degarmore pled guilty to stealing the deceased Paul E. Roberts’ credit card and using it,” Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said in a news release from his office. “Degarmore also pled guilty to obstructing justice in the death of Paul E. Roberts.”
Judge. L. Alan Goldsberry sentenced Degarmore to four years and 11 months in prison. When released, she will be ordered report to a community-based correctional facility, according to the release.
Paul E. Roberts, 63, was found dead in a well underneath the porch of his Glouster home Oct. 21 when the Glouster Police Department, along with Blackburn’s office and the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, among others, arrived at the residence to investigate a case of vandalism.
When the late Roberts’ son, Paul J. Roberts, 40, was arrested for vandalism, he was also arrested for the alleged murder of his father.
“Degarmore agreed to testify truthfully against her husband in connection to the murder of her father-in-law,” Blackburn said in the release. “There will be no other charges brought against Degarmore, unless forensic evidence ties her to the death of Paul E. Roberts or the concealment of his body.”
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This article appeared in print under the headline "Glouster woman sentenced five years in prison"
