The federal case against a teenager accused of sexually assaulting and strangling his stepsister aboard a cruise ship has reached a key stage, with court filings showing the defense has asked for more time to weigh a possible plea agreement.
Timothy Hudson was 16 when he allegedly killed 18-year-old Anna Kepner aboard the Carnival Horizon on Nov. 7, 2025. He faces charges as an adult in a federal case in Florida, where the allegations include sexual assault and strangulation.
The deadline for a plea had been set for Friday, Oct. 23. A judge granted an extension earlier this month, moving the date to January so the defense team has additional time.
A federal grand jury indicted Hudson in April, and he first entered a not guilty plea. In June, a judge ordered him held in federal custody, and he is now in a federal pretrial detention center. Before that order, he had been in his family's custody and wore an ankle monitor.
The extension suggests Hudson's lawyers may be working toward a plea agreement. Anthony Strazza, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor who practices in federal and state courts and is not connected to the case, said the stakes are very high. "For a case like this, you’re talking about whether or not the defendant gets life or not," he said.
Strazza said the defense could be negotiating a guilty plea in return for prosecutors agreeing not to recommend life without parole. Even so, he cautioned against expecting leniency. "There’s not going to be any sweet plea deal, regardless of whether or not they take a plea. The numbers [years in prison] are going to be large," he said.
Hudson's age, however, could shape the outcome. Strazza noted that even a sentence of several decades could leave open the chance that Hudson is released in his 30s. "You’re talking about a defendant who’s 16 years old, so there’s a huge difference between life and, let’s say, a 30-year sentence," he said.
He added that Hudson could be expected to serve "at least 85 percent" of any federal prison sentence. "Even if he does get big numbers, 20, 30 years, he is still going to be relatively young when he completes that time," Strazza said.
Hudson's defense attorney, Eric Cohen, declined to comment on the case when contacted by Fox News Digital.
