Plea deal may have saved county millions

By Seattle Times staff

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The county had projected spending an additional $16 million through the end of 2005, if the case went to trial. On Wednesday, Ridgway finalized a plea deal with prosecutors by pleading guilty to 48 counts of murder in exchange for being spared the death penalty.

It's too early to determine how much money the county saved by avoiding trial, said Elaine Kraft, spokeswoman for County Executive Ron Sims.

Ridgway is scheduled to be sentenced within six months, and Kraft said prosecutors, defense lawyers and the sheriff's office will need money to "ramp down their investigations."

Anne Harper, who's in charge of the Office of the Public Defender, said defense attorneys expect to return to the county approximately $2.3 million of the $4.1 million budgeted for Ridgway's defense. Numbers for the prosecutor's and sheriff's offices will be compiled and released later, Kraft said.

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