One of two former Life University lacrosse players accused of orchestrating a violent home invasion robbery at a south Atlanta Airbnb accepted a plea deal Thursday.
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Lauren Reilly and Lyndsey Kallish were accused of setting up the home invasion on Halloween night in 2019 by scoping out a party and then recruiting two men to burst in with guns, beat and rob the victims. Prosecutors said the girls knew there would be drugs and cash in the home.
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During opening statements, prosecutors said the former lacrosse players were obsessed with the gang, studio life and Young Slime Life.
The two men, Maxx Pritchett and Tyrone Robinson, were sentenced to 40 years in prison and 35 years in prison respectively. Both men are also accused gang members.
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Channel 2′s Richard Elliot was in the courtroom Thursday when Kallish accepted a plea deal of 15 years probation because of her first-offender status. She will also be required to serve the first ten weekends in the county jail.
“First, I want to apologize,” Kallish said. “I’m sorry to the victims and their families for the trauma, pain and suffering that was caused.
Kallish grew up in Johns Creek and played lacrosse in high school before earning a scholarship to Life University. In the five years since her arrest, prosecutors said she got a degree, became a paralegal and testified against the other two men.
The same judge that sentenced Pritchett and Robinson, Judge Robert McBurney, sentenced Kallish.
The sentence is drawing criticism from the attorney who represented Robinson. She argued that Robinson didn’t grow up as privileged as Kallish.
“The sentence for Kallish, who was one of the masterminds of the home invasion, solidifies that there are two justice systems in America, one for the privileged and one for the poor,” she said.
Kallish’s attorney, Lawrence Zimmerman, said she got probation because of the hard work she’s done since the arrest.
“The real story her is Lyndsey Kallish changed her life,” Zimmerman said. “She is what we want everybody to be when they get in trouble. She turned her life around.”
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