Michelle Carter Sentenced to Prison

TAUNTON — The Massachusetts woman convicted of involuntary manslaughter for urging her boyfriend to kill himself is being sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, with part of that time being suspended.

Judge Lawrence Moniz sentenced Michelle Carter to the two-and-a-half year sentence, with 15 months deemed a committed sentence at the Bristol County House of Corrections, and the balance suspended until August 1, 2022.

Carter was convicted for sending text messages to Conrad Roy III encouraging him to commit suicide.

The prosecution had asked for a sentence of seven to 12 years in state prison, followed by probation. The defense had requested five years of supervised probation, including mental health counseling during that time.

Prosecutor Maryclare Flynn called probation "just not reasonable punishment" for her role in the 2014 suicide of Roy. Carter was 17 when the 18-year-old Roy was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in his truck in a Fairhaven parking lot.

Judge Moniz also ordered Carter to have no contact with the Roy family outside of civil court proceedings, and not to have any direct or indirect contact with the witnesses in the case.

He also ruled that neither Carter nor her legal team can profit off the case in any way, i.e. a book or a movie deal.

Judge Moniz agreed to allow Carter to remain free on a stay of sentence during the appeal process.