A woman accused of removing a drain plug from her fiance's kayak and contributing to his drowning on New York's Hudson River has pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors say Poughkeepsie resident Angelika Graswald removed the plug from 46-year-old Vincent Viafore's kayak and pushed a floating paddle away from him after the kayak capsized in April 2015.

Graswald had been facing murder and manslaughter charges but pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide on Monday in Orange County Court.

Video from News 12 Westchester

Tears: Attorneys flank Angelika Graswald, center, as she cries after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide

Emotion: Angelika Graswald wells up as she admits her guilt to the court in Goshen, New York

Angelika Graswald, 37, pleaded guilty on Monday in Orange County Court over the 2015 death of her fiance Vincent Viafore on New York's Hudson River. She is pictured here in 2015

Her attorney has said the death was an accident and was caused by high waves, cold water and alcohol.

Graswald, who has been in custody awaiting trial, had told police that she wanted to be 'free from his sex demands and threesome desires', earlier court hearings heard.

She said she was unable to save Viafore when he capsized without a life jacket. She was rescued from the water by another boater and treated for hypothermia.

But prosecutors said she removed the drain plug from the kayak and pushed a floating paddle away from him as he struggled in the cold and choppy Hudson River.

Viafore's body was found three weeks after he disappeared by a fisherman near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Graswald had been facing murder and manslaughter charges in relation to 46-year-old Vincent Viafore's death but pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide on Monday

Prosecutors say Graswald (left in her mugshot) removed the plug from Viafore's kayak and pushed a floating paddle away from him after the kayak capsized in April 2015

She was accused of removing the plug from Viafore's kayak and contributing to his drowning on New York's Hudson River. His body was found three weeks later by a fisherman

By then, Graswald had already been charged with murder.

Prosecutors claimed she wanted out of her relationship with Viafore and had wanted to get her hands on $250,000 in life insurance.

At Graswald's arraignment in May 2015, Orange County Assistant District Attorney Julie Mohl said: 'She felt trapped, and it was her only way out.'

Mohl added that Graswald had admitted tampering with Viafore's kayak and later confessed that 'it felt good knowing he would die.'

She also did not call 911 for 20 minutes after Viafore's kayak overturned and witnesses said she intentionally capsized her own craft, according to Mohl.

Graswald is facing anywhere from 16 months to four years in jail for the criminally negligent homicide charge. She will be given credit for time already served.

She will be sentenced on November 1.

Graswald, who has been in custody awaiting trial, had told police that she wanted to be 'free from his sex demands and threesome desires', earlier court hearings heard