Court orders shorter sentence for Idaho woman who helped cover up killing

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A court has ordered a shorter sentence for an Idaho woman who admitted to helping a Colorado rancher cover up the killing of his fiancee.

The Colorado Court of Appeals overturned the three-year prison sentence for Krystal Kenney on Thursday after finding that her punishment should not have fallen within the aggravated range for evidence tampering. The court told District Judge Scott Sells to resentence her within the normal range of 1 to 1 1½ years.

Kenney, a former nurse also known as Krystal Lee, was the main witness to testify against Patrick Frazee, with whom she had an on again and off again relationship and who was convicted of killing Kelsey Berreth. Berreth was last seen in 2018.

The appeals court found that Kenney did not admit to aggravating factors in her plea deal and did not consent to Sells being able to conduct “judicial factfinding” to be able to impose an aggravated sentence, The Gazette reported.

Kenney’s attorney, Dru Nielsen, said she has been an “exemplary inmate” and the ruling will likely set up her to be released on parole.

“She’s been in for 13 months. So, yes, with her good and earned time … she should be eligible for release immediately,” he said.