Phillip Garrido will plead guilty today in kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard, says lawyer

(CBS/AP) SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Phillip Garrido, the man accused of kidnapping and holding 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years, is almost certainly going to plead guilty Thursday as part of a deal that would keep him in prison for the rest of his life, according to an attorney involved in the case.

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The agreement was outlined last week during a closed-door meeting that attorney Stephen Tapson said he attended with prosecutors, the public defender representing Garrido and the judge presiding over the high-profile case.

"He is going to plead unless somebody gets ill or the power goes off in the courthouse," said Tapson, who represents Garrido's wife and co-defendant Nancy Garrido.

The Garridos are accused of kidnapping Dugard, now 30, when she was an 11-year-old girl and holding her captive in the backyard of their Antioch, Calif. home until they were arrested in August 2009.

Phillip and Nancy Garrido were both charged with 18 counts of kidnapping, rape, false imprisonment, child pornography and committing lewd acts on a child.

Nancy Garrido has pleaded not guilty in the case. Phillip Garrido has yet to enter a plea after his criminal proceedings were halted for more than four months while his mental competency to stand trial was under evaluation.

Both defendants gave full confessions to authorities and expressed interest in plea bargains that would spare Dugard and her two daughters from having to testify.

Dugard has requested privacy and has not attended any of the court hearings. She is writing her memoirs, which are scheduled to be published in September.

Complete Coverage of Jaycee Dugard on Crimesider

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