An attorney for one of the defendants in the hazing death of a Florida A&M drum major said his client is going to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors, but that could still mean prison time.

A lawyer for 24-year-old Caleb Jackson said at a court hearing Friday that his client will plead guilty to felony hazing and manslaughter.

Channel 9’s Kathi Belich learned one of the 12 suspects in the case broke his silence and named names. New evidence obtained by WFTV includes a statement from a defendant named Ryan Dean, and that information may have helped convince prosecutors to file the new manslaughter charges last week.

Defense lawyers got the evidence at the same time last week, and an attorney for Jackson said his client decided to plead guilty.

Jackson currently is being held in the Leon County Jail for violating probation and could enter the plea as soon as April.

Attorney Chuck Hobbs said Jackson has expressed remorse over what happened to drum major Robert Champion.

Hobbs said the plea is a direct result of the more serious charge of manslaughter being filed against Jackson.

Hobbs said the plea negotiations with the state are ongoing but no deal has yet been reached.

He also said Jackson was supposed to be in court for Friday’s hearing, but he was never transferred there, so a plea hearing will be rescheduled in a few weeks.

Hobbs said Jackson is taking his chances at sentencing with the judge, and that he has not gotten a deal from prosecutors.

Champion died in November 2011 in Orlando after he collapsed following what prosecutors said was a savage beating during a hazing ritual.

On the same day Dean pleaded no contest to hazing resulting in death last November, he gave prosecutors a signed statement naming names.

Dean said he saw Jackson "holding Robert down at one point and then moving to the back of the bus.”

Jackson first denied even being on the bus, but he then changed his story.

“They said you were on the bus,” a detective told Jackson.

“That's a lie,” Jackson said. “I have confirmation that's a lie.”

But Dean, the newly revealed witness, has also changed his story. He was questioned twice last year before his plea and denied seeing anything.

“I heard people yelling, but I couldn't make out exactly what was going on or exactly what was happening,” Dean said.

Dean repeatedly insisted during his first two interviews that he did not see any hazing on the way to the hotel on the bus because he was asleep. He then said he left the bus but went back to get his glasses. He said he couldn't see anything, got his glasses and immediately left again.

Dean was sentenced to four years of probation and community service, and the judge did not put a conviction on his record.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said Dean's flip could give the other defendants an opportunity to question his credibility.

"It would be easy to allege in cross examination that, 'Look, you are now saying what you're saying and changing your story because you wanted to get a sweetheart deal, which you got,'" said Sheaffer.

A dozen former FAMU band members have been charged with manslaughter and felony hazing.

Those students could face 15 years in prison if convicted, but Channel 9 found the state attorney's office is willing to offer a much lighter punishment.

Sheaffer said, if Jackson admits to holding Champion down, and bolsters Dean's credibility, there could be more pleas in the hazing death.

Authorities said Champion had bruises on his chest, arms, shoulder and back. The medical examiner found Champion died of internal bleeding.

Witnesses told emergency dispatchers that the drum major was vomiting before he was found unresponsive aboard the bus.