Glossip Pleads Guilty to Accessory Count

Thursday's plea is a conviction for accessory after the fact, and the murder charge is gone. It does not replace the verdict the U.S. Supreme Court vacated, and it does not set a sentence. Judge Natalie Mai will do that on Dec. 17, with nearly 30 years already served in front of her, and Barry Van Treese is dead.

Richard Glossip pleaded guilty Thursday in Oklahoma County to accessory to first-degree murder after the fact in the 1997 killing of Barry Van Treese, the Oklahoma City motel owner who was his boss. Prosecutors withdrew the first-degree murder charge. Judge Natalie Mai set sentencing for Dec. 17 at 9 a.m. He faces five to 45 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. He has been free on bond since May and will stay out until that hearing.

Van Treese was beaten to death with a baseball bat. Justin Sneed confessed to the killing and testified that Glossip promised him $10,000 to do it. Sneed received a life sentence. A jury convicted Glossip and sent him to death row. He had nine execution dates and was served a last meal three times. In February 2025 the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the murder conviction and the death sentence, citing prosecutorial misconduct, and said he was entitled to a new trial.

Don Knight, his lawyer, said Glossip still denies committing the murder and entered the plea to put the case behind him. Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the plea was a hard choice for the Van Treese family and gives the state a conviction tied to the killing, and its best chance at more prison time.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.