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When 18-year-old Meagan Grunwald stands before a Utah County judge on Wednesday, her possible punishments are harsh.

At best, she will be ordered by 4th District Judge Darold McDade to spend 25 years and up to life in prison.

The maximum penalty? She could spend the rest of her life in prison without ever having the chance to be paroled.

It's a heavy sentence for the Draper teen, who at 17 years old was charged as accomplice for driving her truck while her 27-year-old boyfriend — who was later fatally shot by police — fired out the back window and killed Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Cory Wride and injured Deputy Greg Sherwood.

At a May trial, a jury deliberated for 11 hours before finding the teen guilty of first-degree felony aggravated murder in Wride's death and first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder in Sherwood's shooting, along with charges of first-degree felony aggravated robbery, three counts of felony discharge of a firearm, two charges of criminal mischief and one count each of causing an accident involving property damage, failure to stop at the command of police, and possession or use of a controlled substance.

The aggravated murder charge requires a mandatory minimum of a 25-year-to-life sentence, though McDade could chose to sentence Grunwald to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Deputy Utah County Attorney Samuel Pead said Monday that prosecutors have not yet decided what sentence they will ask the judge to impose, saying they have "a number of factors to consider."

Speaking generally, Pead said cases where minors are tried as adults for murder-type crimes are "very difficult for so many reasons." Some members of the public are angry and demand justice for the crimes, he said, while others believe prison or other sanctions are not appropriate for minors — even if they commit serious crimes.

"Victims of crime and victims' families are in the same unenviable position of loss, whether the perpetrator of their love one's death or serious injury is an adult or a minor," Pead said.

The prosecutor added that the only way to avoid hefty minimum sentences that Utah law mandates is to negotiate a plea bargain.

"However, when the parties cannot find a middle ground through negotiation, they are left with putting the facts before a trier of fact, and having to accept the outcome of a trial," Pead said.

Defense attorney Dean Zabriskie did not return a phone call seeking comment about the upcoming sentencing.

Grunwald will join a small group of teenagers convicted of murder and other serious crimes who have ended up in adult prison. In 2014, prison spokeswoman Brooke Adams said that in the previous five years, the prison had 18 offenders under the age of 18 admitted into prison. In that same time frame, 53 18-year-olds became prisoners.

However, Grunwald's case is unique in that she is charged as an accomplice in the January 2014 crime spree, and was not accused of pulling that trigger that day. Utah law states that anyone who "solicits, requests, commands, encourages, or intentionally aids another person" in a crime can be held equally culpable for the crime.

According to the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, more than 25 percent of youth nationwide who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole were accomplices. The majority of those youth were sentenced in 18 states where judges have no other option but to sentence the teen to spend the rest of his or her life behind bars, according to the organization's website, which added that most of the youth were sentenced in five states — California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Of all of the inmates nationwide serving a life-in-prison-without-parole sentence imposed when they were juveniles, just 2.8 percent were female, according to a 2010-2011 research project by the nonprofit organization The Sentencing Project. Half of those juveniles were offered a plea deal before trial — but only 26.5 percent resolved their case in a negotiated plea.

Grunwald rejected a plea offer in her case six months before trial — turning down the prosecution's offer to plead guilty to first-degree felony murder and third-degree felony counts of attempted robbery and aggravated assault in exchange for a recommendation to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole that she be released after 15 years in prison.

Zabriskie said at that time that said Grunwald "never came close" to accepting the offer, because there was no guarantee of release on the 15-years-to-life sentence for the murder count.

"She felt comfortable rejecting it, realizing she could life-out [spend up to life in prison] if she loses," Zabriskie said last November. "That's a risk we are aware of."

At trial, Grunwald testified for two days, telling jurors that her boyfriend, Jose Angel Garcia-Jauregui, threated her with a gun, and that she acted as the getaway driver only out of fear. But prosecutors say she was compelled by love and loyalty that day.

In his closing argument, Pead pointed to police dashboard camera recordings and witness testimony as evidence to counter Grunwald's claims that she was threatened. This evidence included video footage showing Grunwald chasing after Garcia-Jauregui twice — when her truck and, later, a hijacked vehicle, were disabled. It also showed her skillful driving and sudden braking to close the gap between her truck and Sherwood's vehicle as her boyfriend shot him in Santaquin.

Grunwald testified that on Jan. 30, 2014 — while on a drive with Garcia-Jauregui — he learned during a phone call that the parole board had issued an warrant for his arrest.

As they were stopped at the side of the road in Utah County, Wride happened to pull up to see if they needed help. When Wride asked their names, Garcia-Jauregui gave a false name.

As Wride checked their information in his patrol vehicle, Garcia-Jauregui told Grunwald that if she didn't do what he said, he would shoot her and kill her family, the teen testified.

Soon after, Garcia-Jauregui killed Wride, 44, by shooting out the rear window of Grunwald's pickup truck. Wride's dashboard camera video shows the white truck speed off as shots are fired

Later that day, Garcia-Jauregui shot and severely wounded Sherwood in Santaquin. Nearly two hours after Wride was shot, Garcia-Jauregui was fatally wounded by other officers during a shootout in Nephi.

Twitter: @jm_miller