Ex-Harvard Student Pleads Guilty In Dorm Shooting

A former Harvard University student has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty in connection with the 2009 fatal shooting of a drug dealer inside a dormitory.

In pleading guilty to accessory after the fact charges Friday, Brittany Smith admitted she hid the gun used in the shooting of Justin Cosby and helped three men involved in the killing elude authorities and flee to New York City.

Prosecutors said 21-year-old Cosby was shot during an attempted robbery by Smith's former boyfriend, Jabrai Jordan Copney, and two other men.

Under a plea agreement, Copney was convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence. The men weren't Harvard students.

After the shooting, the 24-year-old Smith, of New York City, was suspended and not allowed to graduate.

Before sentencing Friday, Cosby's mother, Denise Cosby, delivered an emotional victim impact statement.

"[H]er involvement was just as serious as the shooter," Cosby said. "She was the nucleus of this whole catastrophe."

Smith must serve the full three years without the chance of parole.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

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