After first pleading guilty last September, then withdrawing her plea in May, a Bybee woman again entered a guilty plea on Wednesday to a charge of aggravated robbery.

Miranda LeShea Seay, 22, of Lonesome Pine Road, Bybee, received an eight-year penitentiary sentence under the terms of the negotiated plea agreement and will be required to serve 30 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Seay had first pled guilty last September and agreed to the minimum eight-year sentence in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction. But she had anticipated to request probation in a sentencing hearing before Judge Ogle.

But both Assistant District Attorney General Tonya Thornton and defense attorney Derreck Whitson said they discovered that probation is not permitted for the offense under Tennessee law, and Seay was allowed to withdraw her initial plea on May 26.

After further plea-bargain discussions, Seay again pled guilty on Wednesday and accepted the eight-year prison sentence.

Seay is charged with the theft, at gunpoint, of business receipts belonging to the Newport Pizza Hut in January 2008.

Prosecutors allege that Seay, wearing a red shirt and a rubber mask and brandishing a handgun, approached Pizza Hut employees who were making an after-hours deposit on January 20 at U.S. Bank and took five bank bags containing about $2,629 from employee Tina Ocampo, of 1294 Bright Star Road.

Seay is alleged to have fled with the money from the business' deposit and was arrested by Newport police officers on Mims Avenue. The bank bags, mask, and other evidence were found inside her vehicle, Newport police reported.

The defendant was later identified by the Pizza Hut assistant manager.

"It pains me that you are here," Judge Ogle told Seay after accepting her guilty plea. "Thank God you didn't kill anybody and thank God you didn't get killed."

The judge asked Seay why she committed the crime.

"I had a drug problem at the time," Seay responded. "The gun wasn't loaded [but] I know that doesn't make it any better. But I really think I can do something to turn my life around. I'll never make the same mistake again."

"I hope you don't, young lady," Judge Ogle said.