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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; What was originally scheduled to be a pretrial motions hearing on Monday took a dramatic turn when Eric Scott Montanari Jr. entered a guilty plea, admitting he stabbed his grandmother to death.</p><p>He&#8217;ll be spending decades behind bars.</p><p>Montanari, 18, entered the plea before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. Monday morning, entering the plea on a single count of murder of the third degree.</p><p>The man was accused of killing his grandmother, Sanra Lee Montanari, 66, in her Weston home in Black Creek Township on March 16. Montanari was charged as an adult, despite being 17 when the stabbing occurred.</p><p>Sklarosky accepted Montanari&#8217;s guilty plea on the count of third degree murder. Prosecutors withdrew two counts each of aggravated and simple assault in pursuance of a plea deal.</p><p>Montanari was immediately sentenced by Sklarosky to between 180 and 360 months, or 15 to 30 years, in state prison. He was ordered to pay over $2,000 in restitution to the Luzerne County Coroner&#8217;s Office, and an additional $200 to the Pennsylvania State Police. He is also ordered to make a good faith effort to obtain his GED.</p><p>Notably, he was also ordered to have no contact with the victim&#8217;s family &#8212; which is also his own family &#8212; unless they choose to have contact with him.</p><p>State police were originally dispatched to Sandra Montanari&#8217;s home on Market Street just before 7 a.m. on March 16 for reports of a woman with stab wounds. Dispatchers warned troopers of a fight in the home.</p><p>Sandra Montanari was found on the living room floor, covered in blood. Emergency personnel said she had wounds on her left side, near her neck and clavicle. She died on scene.</p><p>Sandra&#8217;s son Allen, who also lived there, said he he was in the bathroom when he heard his mother yelling for him. He found Eric on top of Sandra.</p><p>He pulled the younger man off her and began fighting. He told police he saw Eric holding a serrated knife, which investigators later recovered.</p><p>After making his guilty plea on Monday, Montanari was remanded to a state prison to begin his sentence.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Eric Scott Montanari Jr., who pleaded guilty Monday to killing his grandmother, is led by sheriffs out of the Luzerne County Court House following his arraignment in July. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL072018Montaneri.jpg</photo0><caption0>Eric Scott Montanari Jr., who pleaded guilty Monday to killing his grandmother, is led by sheriffs out of the Luzerne County Court House following his arraignment in July. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Man pleads guilty to killing grandmother, sentenced to prison