FALL RIVER, Mass. -- A friend of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez has pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact for his part in a 2013 shooting death of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.
Carlos Ortiz changed his plea to guilty on Monday. In return, prosecutors dropped murder charges against him. He was sentenced to 4½ to 7 years in prison.
Hernandez, Ortiz and Ernest Wallace -- all friends from Bristol, Connecticut -- were all initially charged with murder.
Hernandez was convicted of Lloyd's murder last year and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.