As part of her plea agreement, a Maryland teenager pled guilty to first degree murder charges in the slaying of a 57-year-old car salesman. As part of her plea in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Emily Geller, 18, could face up to 25 years in prison. Artie Ellis, 16, who was her boyfriend at the time of the murder, was also charged and reached a similar plea agreement. The Maryland criminal attorneys for both defendants state that the teenagers did not mean to kill the man in a robbery that went wrong.
Emily Gellar met the victim, Ali Zare, in May 2009, when he offered to give her a ride. Gellar said that Zare told her he was a car salesman who could get her a good deal on a car. He then paid Gellar to have sex with him in the basement of her home.
Later, Gellar and her boyfriend discussed robbing Zare. They planned for Gellar to lure Zare down a dark path with a promise of more sex for money and then the couple would beat and rob him. According to Gellar, after she convinced Zare to follow her into the woods, Ellis struck him in the head with a shovel, accidentally killing him. According to their Maryland criminal attorneys, Gellar and Ellis each blame the other for hatching the plan.
As part of the plea agreements in the case, prosecutors have agreed to seek a maximum sentence of 25 years as part of a suspended life sentence. Parole for the convicted teenagers must be approved by the governor’s office.
This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, a criminal and DUI defense firm serving Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Virginia Criminal Attorney website.
