HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — As Angel Vause waits to hear how long she’ll be in prison for lying to federal agents during their investigation into Brittanee Drexel’s kidnapping and murder, her legal team is seeking a sentence far lower than what prosecutors want.

A sentencing memorandum filed Feb. 3 in U.S. District Court’s Charleston division by Vause’s attorney Charles W. Cochran is requesting a maximum of 87 months — or 7.25 years — for the 57-old, who in September pleaded guilty to three counts of lying to the FBI over the course of their probe into Drexel’s disappearance and death.

The nine-page document outlines a woman with a troubled past who was manipulated by Raymond Moody — the man who in 2022 admitted to kidnapping, raping and murdering Drexel and is now spending life in prison.

Vause is slated to be sentenced on Feb. 13. Federal prosecutors are seeking a 24-year prison term.

“When she entered her guilty plea, Ms. Vause did not know that the government would engage in further talks with a known liar, rapist and murderer and use his claims to sandbag her with additional accusations to bolster its request for an enhanced sentence,” Cochran said in the memorandum.

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“As a result, the accusations against her are far more serious, twisted and disturbing than what she agreed to at her guilty plea. More importantly, Moody’s claims are complete lies,” Cochran said.

Just as sentencing documents released last month paint a clearer picture of how Moody and Vause interacted with the New York teenager who last seen in Myrtle Beach while on spring break in 2009, Cochran’s memorandum offers new details never before made public.

Cochran said Vause in August 2024 was “ready” to take a guilty plea on two counts of lying to the FBI, which could have sent her to prison for 16 years.

That’s when an “angry” Moody stepped in, Cochran alleges.

“What little shreds of power and influence that he still fancied himself to have would be taken away. If she took the plea, Angel would no longer be in his power … He got on the phone with his lawyers. He somehow convinced one of them to personally contact Angel on the morning of her guilty plea,” Cochran said.

A tearful Vause “broke down in tears” the day of her Aug. 27 court appearance and walked back the guilty plea — revoking any deal with federal prosecutors.

After pleading again on Sept. 9 to three counts of lying to the FBI and setting up a potential 24-year-sentence by avoiding trial, Vause undercut Moody, Cochran said.

“He had wanted Angel to go to trial. He had lost control of her. There was only one way for him to lash out,” the sentencing memorandum says.

Once again, Moody called his lawyers. Cochran’s document goes into detail about the multiple ways Moody lied to prosecutors in an effort to make Vause’s involvement more damning than it actually was — including attempts to place her at the scene while he carried out the crime.

Why?

Aside from being a “self-obsessed, psychopathic liar,” Cochran said Moody is worried about his own jailhouse reputation.

“The length of Angel’s sentence may have some bearing on his status among other inmates. It is surprising that anyone, let alone the government, would rely on someone like Ray Moody in crafting a sentencing recommendation,” Cochran wrote.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Vause found her way to South Carolina in the mid-2000s and eventually started a relationship with Moody. The couple were frequently drive to Myrtle Beach, where Angel would drink and use drugs at area bars.

“It was on such a night that Ray pulled over and offered his victim (Drexel) a ride. Angel was intoxicated and in the passenger seat and did not interact with the victim,” Cochran wrote. “She only remembers looking into Ray’s eyes and feeling fear when she realized what he was doing.”

Moody drove Drexel down the Myrtle Beach strip, saying he was kidnapping her and would let her go after getting ransom money. He handcuffed her and then headed to the remote Pole Yard Boat Landing in Georgetown.

Angel left when they got there, terrified of what might happen next. She was gone for about 90 minutes and by the time she came back, Drexel was “gone,” Cochran said.

“For years she lived with guilt and fear. Ray controlled her life. He cut her off from her friends and would not let her work. She depended on him completely. He weaseled his way into her family life. He did not have a family of his own,” Cochran wrote.

Cochran wrote that Vause shouldn’t be handed the heavy sentence prosecutors want, given how she was also manipulated by a killer and rapist.

“Ray Moody is behind bars for life. Angel should not receive the same fate,” he wrote.