July 22, 2014: In this file photo, former New England Patriots' Aaron Hernandez watches during a hearing in Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Mass. (AP)
FALL RIVER, Mass. – Massachusetts prosecutors are recommending probation and home confinement instead of prison time for a cousin of ex-New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez who is charged with contempt and has said she is dying from cancer.
Prosecutors said in a Friday filing they are seeking two years' probation and home confinement for Tanya Singleton of Bristol, Connecticut. She is expected to change her plea to guilty Tuesday on a criminal contempt charge for refusing to testify before the grand jury that indicted Hernandez.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd of Boston.
Singleton's attorney said last week additional incarceration would likely hasten her death. She spent 196 days in jail before posting bail.
Separately, a Superior Court judge on Monday considered motions from Hernandez's lawyers to exclude some evidence in the murder case.
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