Angel Vause, the 58-year-old former girlfriend of the man convicted of abducting, raping and killing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel, is asking a federal appeals court to throw out her 18-year prison sentence for lying to the FBI. Vause pleaded guilty to three counts of lying to federal investigators and was sentenced on Feb. 13, 2025, in U.S. District Court in Charleston to 18 years behind bars — six years on each count, served consecutively — plus three years of supervised release.
A Case Tied to a Teen's Disappearance
Vause is the ex-girlfriend of Raymond Moody, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison in October 2022 for abducting, raping and killing Drexel, according to WMBF News. Drexel's case had remained unsolved for over a dozen years before Moody's conviction, as reported by the Post and Courier. Vause, 58, is described in that reporting as Moody's former girlfriend, and prosecutors have said she lied about a sex-related crime during her FBI interview.
Court records show Vause rejected a plea deal covering two counts about two weeks before she ultimately pleaded guilty — a deal that could have cut roughly a decade off her eventual sentence. She appealed her conviction in March, arguing that her prosecution violated double-jeopardy protections and that her punishment was enhanced without sufficient evidence.
Her Attorney Points to a New Supreme Court Ruling
Vause's attorney, Lori Alvino McGill, filed a brief with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 4, arguing that a five-month-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling supports reconsidering her sentence. That ruling, Hunter v. United States, was decided 8-1 by the Supreme Court in June and held that plea-bargain appeal waivers are unenforceable when enforcing them would result in a miscarriage of justice, according to SCOTUSblog. The same ruling cautions that ordinary errors in applying sentencing law cannot cancel an appeal waiver, stating that “such standard-fare errors in misapplying sentencing law cannot cancel an appeal waiver.”
Vause's reply brief, filed March 17, describes her term as three consecutive six-year sentences and asks the Fourth Circuit to reverse the district court's judgment and remand the case for resentencing, according to a copy of the filing hosted by wbtw.com. The brief argues the district court's judgment should be reversed, and the case remanded for resentencing.
Why the Eight-Year Maximum Matters
Under federal law, lying to investigators ordinarily carries a maximum penalty of five years per count, but that maximum rises to eight years per count in cases involving international or domestic terrorism or sex offenses. Prosecutors said the district court advised Vause that her three counts carried an eight-year maximum per count because the case involved a sex-related crime, and they said she was repeatedly advised of that enhanced penalty throughout the proceedings. The statute itself, under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, states that the term of imprisonment shall be not more than eight years when a matter relates to the listed offenses, per the United States Code.
Prosecutors have asked the appellate court to deny Vause's request, arguing that her double-jeopardy claim should fail because she did not challenge the three counts when she pleaded guilty. They also argued she cannot show prejudice because she never sought to withdraw her plea and take the case to trial, and they described the government's evidence against her as strong.
Judge Heard Arguments, No Ruling Yet
U.S. appeals court judge Paul V. Niemeyer presided over oral arguments on Oct. 29. He has not issued a ruling on Vause's appeal. The case now awaits a decision from the Fourth Circuit as both sides wait to see whether the Hunter precedent will reshape how her sentence is reviewed.
