BOSTON -- It was car insurance fraud gone terribly wrong. More than four years later, a man charged in a fatal Lawrence car crash appeared in court.

NewsCenter 5's Lynn Jolicoeur reported that the victim also allegedly acted as an accomplice.

"There was no intent to cause her death. What was intentional was a staged crash," Assistant District Attorney William Melkonian said.

Jacinto Maldonado pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday for the 2003 death of Altagracia Arias, a 65-year-old grandmother of his cousin. He conspired with six other people to cause a car crash and divvy up the insurance payout. One of the alleged accomplices ended up dead.

"Mrs. Arias was recruiting people for $200 a seat," Melkonian said.

She was riding in the back seat of the car Maldonado was driving when he intentionally hit the accomplices' car, but then veered into a pole. Arias later died from her injuries.

The incident sparked an investigation, in which authorities learned car insurance fraud was big business in the city of Lawrence. But Maldonado's attorney told the judge before and after this incident that his client led an upstanding life.

Maldonado was arrested in the Dominican Republic more than two years after the warrant was issued. The victim's grandson spoke in court.

"He's a great dad, great family member. He feels bad about what happened. I can't speak on behalf of my grandmother, just on behalf of my family," said Anthony Arias, a relative of the defendant and victim.

Despite family backing and a defense request for probation, Maldonado is heading to prison on a two-year sentence four years after his crime.