GREAT FALLS — A 17-year-old Montana boy who pleaded guilty to killing an 18-year-old woman during an attempted drug robbery has been sentenced to 60 years in prison with possibility for parole.
The Great Falls Tribune reports that Joseph Knowles was sentenced on Tuesday. Knowles and his girlfriend Brianna Coombs are accused of plotting to rob Megan Meriwether of her marijuana in September 2016. Knowles is accused of taking a knife from Meriwether and stabbing her with it. Attorneys say he pulled out the knife when Knowles and Coombs attempted to rob her.
Knowles’ sentence was in line with the recommendation prosecutors made in a plea deal in October, sparing him a jury trial.
Coombs is scheduled to be sentenced for the robbery Jan. 19. Prosecutors recommend she be sentenced to 30 years in prison.