Woman gets year in jail for helping trooper's killer
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. - A woman who was with a man when he killed Washington State Patrol Trooper Tony Radulescu has been sentenced to a year in jail.
Megan Mollet, 19, apologized to Radulescu's tearful friends and family members in court as she was sentenced Tuesday in Port Orchard. She was convicted last month of rendering criminal assistance.
Kitsap County prosecutors had asked for an exceptional two-year sentence, but with credit for time served, she could be out in nine months.
Radulescu's family, friends and coworkers gave the judge extremely emotional testimony before Mollet had the chance to offer a statement.
"I hope every day you think about the horrible thing you did," said Gina Miller, Radalescu's girlfriend.
Mollet's mother then pleaded with the judge for leniency.
"She shouldn't have lied to police, but she was just a young girl who was confused and threatened after her friend murdered someone," Amanda Mollet said. "Please, your honor, I'm pleading with you not to make Megan, who has never been in any trouble before, pay for Joshua's actions."
Just before the sentence was read, Megan Mollet had her chance to address the court.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry for the actions that I did that night," she said. "I didn't know what was happening. I do regret what I did."
Just before Judge Leila Mills handed down her sentence, she chastised Megan Mollet for doing the wrong thing.
"You blatantly lied to police, you lied about even knowing Blake," Mills said. "You had a moral, ethical responsibility to tell the truth. You chose not to. You only told truth after you knew Blake was dead.
She said Mollet had lost her moral compass.
"You put your own interests ahead of the right thing to be done that night," Mills said.
Megan Mollet was riding with Joshua Blake when he was pulled over Feb. 23 on Highway 16 near Gorst. Blake shot Radulescu and fled. Blake later shot and killed himself.
Prosecutors said Mollet led police down the wrong paths the next morning during the search for Blake, an ex-con with a history of antagonizing police, which enabled him to remain at large and preventing officers from quickly finding and arresting him.
Mollet testified she lied to police because Blake promised to kill her if she talked. Blake ultimately took his own life.
"He was just a crazed man at that point," Megan Mollet testified during her trial. "He was not the Josh I grew up with."
But the prosecutor pointed to Mollet's Facebook page which showed her posing with Blake, and a note Mollet scrawled while in jail that appeared to pay tribute to Blake.
Of six people accused of criminal assistant or interfering with police in the case, five have pleaded guilty or been convicted and one awaits trial.
Megan Mollet, 19, apologized to Radulescu's tearful friends and family members in court as she was sentenced Tuesday in Port Orchard. She was convicted last month of rendering criminal assistance.
Kitsap County prosecutors had asked for an exceptional two-year sentence, but with credit for time served, she could be out in nine months.
Radulescu's family, friends and coworkers gave the judge extremely emotional testimony before Mollet had the chance to offer a statement.
"I hope every day you think about the horrible thing you did," said Gina Miller, Radalescu's girlfriend.
Mollet's mother then pleaded with the judge for leniency.
"She shouldn't have lied to police, but she was just a young girl who was confused and threatened after her friend murdered someone," Amanda Mollet said. "Please, your honor, I'm pleading with you not to make Megan, who has never been in any trouble before, pay for Joshua's actions."
Just before the sentence was read, Megan Mollet had her chance to address the court.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry for the actions that I did that night," she said. "I didn't know what was happening. I do regret what I did."
Just before Judge Leila Mills handed down her sentence, she chastised Megan Mollet for doing the wrong thing.
"You blatantly lied to police, you lied about even knowing Blake," Mills said. "You had a moral, ethical responsibility to tell the truth. You chose not to. You only told truth after you knew Blake was dead.
She said Mollet had lost her moral compass.
"You put your own interests ahead of the right thing to be done that night," Mills said.
Megan Mollet was riding with Joshua Blake when he was pulled over Feb. 23 on Highway 16 near Gorst. Blake shot Radulescu and fled. Blake later shot and killed himself.
Prosecutors said Mollet led police down the wrong paths the next morning during the search for Blake, an ex-con with a history of antagonizing police, which enabled him to remain at large and preventing officers from quickly finding and arresting him.
Mollet testified she lied to police because Blake promised to kill her if she talked. Blake ultimately took his own life.
"He was just a crazed man at that point," Megan Mollet testified during her trial. "He was not the Josh I grew up with."
But the prosecutor pointed to Mollet's Facebook page which showed her posing with Blake, and a note Mollet scrawled while in jail that appeared to pay tribute to Blake.
Of six people accused of criminal assistant or interfering with police in the case, five have pleaded guilty or been convicted and one awaits trial.
