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CEDAR CITY — A Cedar City woman who admitted to driving a car for two men accused of killing her stepfather has been sentenced to prison for manslaughter.
Clarissa Bulletts, 19, was sentenced Tuesday to concurrent terms of one to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and obstructing justice, second-degree felonies. She pleaded guilty to the charges in September. In exchange, a charge of murder, a first-degree felony, was dismissed.
Bulletts was charged along with two other men — her ex-boyfriend, 35-year-old Angelo Seth Carrasco, and another man, Eric Rodriguez, 31 — in the Oct. 21, 2014, shooting death of her stepfather, 45-year-old Shawn Leroy Multine.
Bulletts agreed in the plea deal to cooperate with investigators and provide testimony in the other two cases. Bulletts' attorney, James Park, noted in court filings that she had been incarcerated roughly 400 days when she was sentenced and asked that she be given probation.
Park emphasized that, in a preliminary hearing, a detective had testified, "Whatever Mr. Carrasco was planning to do at that point, I don't believe she was in cahoots with that."
Police say it was Bulletts who drove Carrasco, the accused gunman, and Rodriguez that night, giving them a rifle that was stored in the trunk of her car, charges state. She then sent Multine a text message, trying to lure him out of his apartment to a secluded location.
When the text messages didn't work, Bulletts waited in the area where she had stopped while Carrasco and Rodriguez went to Multine's apartment, 179 E. 575 North, charges state.
Rodriguez tried shouting at Multine from outside the home while Carrasco waited with the rifle, police said. Finally, Carrasco forced his way into the house and allegedly shot Multine.
Police say Rodriguez helped to dispose of the rifle, and Bulletts drove the men from the area.
Carrasco is charged with aggravated murder, a capital offense, as well as aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony, and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
Prosecutors have been granted an extension allowing them until Jan. 15 to file notice of whether they will seek the death penalty in the case. A scheduling conference has been set for Dec. 15.
Rodriguez is charged with murder and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies, and obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. A jury trial is scheduled to begin April 4.
