Preppy Killer's Girlfriend Pleads Guilty, Gets Released

Shawn Kovell, who was arrested in an undercover drug sting in October, was released from jail yesterday to head into a drug treatment program. She was able to get out by making a deal with the Manhattan DA's office: Kovell pleaded guilty to charges that she sold cocaine with her boyfriend, Robert Chambers, the infamous "Preppy Killer" in the 1986 death of Jennifer Levin.

Kovell was originally held on $25,000 bail, and Kovell's lawyer had repeatedly made the point that Kovell was being unfairly punished because of Chambers' notoriety. Franklin Rothman said, "She has no prior contact with the criminal court system. She was born and raised in the 57th Street apartment. Worked as a bartender. Under normal circumstances she would be released or have bail at $5,000 with medical treatment." If Kovell successfully completes drug treatment and stays out of trouble until May 2009, she will be allowed to "substitute a lesser plea of attempted drug sale, also a felony, and could receive probation," according to the NY Times.

Kovell told reporters that she was never going to testify against "my Rob," and that she still loved him, "It's been 20 years. I'm not going anywhere." She mentioned being sad about everything she lost, like being kicked out of the rent-stabilized Midtown East apartment she inherited from her mother, and worried about her cervical cancer returning. Kovell added that she would visit him every week (which she did while Chambers was in jail for 15 years), "Only treatment can keep me from my Rob. My next job is getting sober for the rest of my life."