Andrea Yates offered plea deal

A Texas woman who drowned her five children in 2001 has been offered a plea agreement under which she could be eligible for parole in 12 1/2 years, prosecutors said on Monday, but her lawyer rejected the deal.

Andrea Yates, 41, has until March 10 to accept the deal to avoid a March 20 retrial on capital murder charges for the drownings, prosecutors said.

As part of the agreement, Yates would have to accept a 35-year sentence, but would be eligible for parole after spending 17 1/2 years in custody, which would include the five years she's been behind bars since the killings.

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