Staff photo / Ed Runyan Andrew Herrmann of Youngstown talks to his attorney, Jay Macejko, after pleading guilty Thursday to several charges in the Shannon Graves case, including abuse of a corpse and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

YOUNGSTOWN — Andrew A. Herrmann, 28, of Francisca Avenue, pleaded guilty Thursday to abuse of a corpse and six other charges for helping killer Arturo Novoa mutilate and hide the body of Shannon Graves and burn her belongings.

Prosecutors are recommending to Judge Anthony Donofrio of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court that Herrmann get 12 years in prison when he is sentenced at 2 p.m. March 11.

Debbie DePaul, Graves’ sister, said after the hearing that when Herrmann — the last of the four defendants — is sentenced and goes to prison, it will be a relief.

“I don’t believe it will ever truly be behind me,” she said. “There’s been so much loss. But it will be a relief.”

At an earlier hearing, she described her sister as “a beautiful girl inside and out” who “was caring and compassionate, too, helping her friends when they were in need.”

Herrmann’s other convictions are engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, four counts of tampering with evidence and an unrelated conviction for aggravated drug trafficking with a gun specification and forfeiture of two guns and $490 in cash.

In exchange for Herrmann’s plea, seven other charges will be dismissed.

Novoa killed Graves, 28, but Novoa; Katrina Layton, 37; and Herrmann were responsible for the gruesome aftermath, including the mutilation and concealment of her body, some of which was found in a freezer in Campbell in 2017 after she had been reported missing earlier.

The criminal enterprise charge states Novoa and Herrmann operated a criminal enterprise to try to cover up the murder and dismemberment of Graves.

A fourth co-defendant, Michelle L. Ihlenfeld, 28, who recently filed for divorce from Herrmann, was sentenced to an additional six months in the Mahoning County jail earlier this week. She was convicted of two crimes, but did not participate in the killing or mutiliation.

Novoa was sentenced to 48 years to life in prison last year, and Layton was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Layton admitted to witnessing the murder, allowing Graves’ body to be dismembered in Layton’s garage and to helping move the body.

Youngstown police detectives and the coroner said Graves was killed at her Mahoning Avenue home when she was struck in the head several times with a heavy object.

Prosecutors said Novoa was a a drug dealer operating out of a Mahoning Avenue apartment, and the ex-boyfriend of Graves.