Teen accused in taped Fla. beating pleads guilty

Criminal Law

One of five teenagers accused in the videotaped beating of a Florida girl has accepted a plea deal.

Eighteen-year-old Mercades Nichols pleaded guilty Tuesday to battery and tampering with a witness. The State Attorney's Office said a kidnapping charge was dropped.

Nichols was among a group of teens arrested in 2008 and accused of attacking a 16-year-old classmate. The attack was recorded on video and broadcast around the world.

Nichols also agreed to plead guilty to charges of battery, assault and violation of an injunction in an unrelated case, in which she was accused of stalking a former boyfriend.

Under the plea agreement, Nichols could spend a maximum of three years on probation and won't spend time in jail. She is scheduled be sentenced in March.

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