The youngest of three people linked to a deadly holdup of a Tucson cabdriver pleaded guilty to armed robbery Monday.
Jessica Gallegos, 17, will be sentenced to somewhere between three and 12 1/2 years in prison when she is sentenced next month.
Gallegos told Pima County Superior Court Judge Frank Dawley she knew her friends were going to rob Timothy R. Royce, 27, but she chose to go along with them.
Royce's body was found in a alley near the University of Arizona, between North Sixth and North Seventh avenues north of East Helen Street, near his Yellow Cab in March 2008.
Gallegos, Ruben E. Archunde, 21, and Marisela N. Pacheco, 31, were arrested less than a week later.
Police believe Archunde shot Royce, but authorities charged Pacheco and Gallegos in the homicide under the felony murder rule, which allows individuals to be charged with murder when someone dies during the commission of certain felonies, such as robbery.
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Detectives found the three at their residence in the 3600 block of East Third Street by tracking people who rode in the cab.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Archunde, according to court documents.
They contend that Archunde committed the crime for money; he acted in an "especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner"; and he committed the crime in a "cold, calculated manner without pretense of moral or legal justification."
The prosecutors also allege that the crime was committed while Archunde was awaiting trial in another, unrelated case.
The case against Archunde and Pacheco is still pending.

