Harmony Montgomery's Stepmother Headed To Prison After Guilty Plea

MANCHESTER, NH — Kayla Montgomery, the stepmother of 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery, entered into a fully negotiated plea agreement Friday.

Kayla Montgomerypleaded guilty to two counts of perjury in connection with false testimony she gave to a Hillsborough County Grand Jury. Kayla Montgomery was brought into the courtroom handcuffed and shackled in an orange prison uniform, wearing a mask. She appeared in front of the Honorable Judge Amy Messer, entered the plea, and was sentenced to the New Hampshire State Prison for women.

In the courtroom, Manchester Police Chief Aldenberg, and detectives who worked on the case listened to the plea and sentencing. Noticeably absent were any of Kayla’s family or friends in the courtroom. One social media person following the case was the only other person in the courtroom besides a large amount of media.

The charges related to Montgomery's statements to a grand jury in May about the last time she allegedly saw Harmony. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jesse O'Neill stated that if the case went to court, evidence would show Montgomery stated she saw Harmony last before starting a shift at a Goffstown Dunkin Donuts. But the investigation showed Montgomery had not been employed by Dunkin Donuts at the time.

Messer accepted the negotiated plea deal and sentenced Montgomery to the recommended 3.5 to 7 years in the New Hampshire State Prison for women, agreeing that 1.5 years of the minimum sentence will be suspended for 10 years. Kayla Montgomery will receive 197 days of credit for time already served. The sentence for the second perjury charge also brings 3.5 to 7 years, which will all be suspended for 10 years.

Given the credit for time served and sentence suspensions, Montgomery could serve as little as 1.5 years.

Kayla Montgomery has never been charged in connection to the disappearance or death of Harmony Montgomery. Adam Montgomery, the father of Harmony, was accused of second-degree murder.

Kayla Montgomery will waive all rights to a trial as part of the plea and is mandated to cooperate and testify in the trial of Adam Montgomery. Attorney Paul Garrity spoke to the media after the sentencing about the agreement, and how she might be helpful at the trial of Adam Montgomery.

Watch: Attorney Paul Garity Speaks To Plea Deal, And Kayla's Upcoming Testimony

Montgomery was escorted from the courtroom and, according to Garity, was being transported to the New Hampshire Prison for Women in Concord, where she will begin serving her sentence.

©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news