BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Local 10 has learned that 19-year-old Lionel Tate, who gained national attention when he was convicted in the wrestling death of his playmate, has sent a letter to a judge asking to change his recent guilty plea in an armed robbery.

Attorney Ellis Rubin said he was not aware of his client's feelings and he was surprised that Tate wrote to Judge Joel Lazarus asking to change his plea to "not guilty."

"Sir, it was not explained to me in great detail on what I can and cannot appeal during this plea acceptance," Tate wrote in the letter, "and I would like to fight my robbery charge because I know that I can prove to you and others that I did not commit these crimes I am being charged with."

On March 1, Tate pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of a pizza deliveryman last year.

He was to be sentenced April 3 to up to 30 years in prison for the robbery. His plea deal would have spared him a possible life sentence for violating probation in the 1999 killing of a 6-year-old girl.

Tate previously admitted that he had violated probation by possessing a gun during the May 23, 2005, robbery.

When he pleaded guilty, Rubin said the evidence against his client was overwhelming.

"What happened in open court was the truth," Rubin said. "And the judge asked him, 'Are you pleading guilty because you're guilty,' and (Tate) said 'yes.'"

The guilty plea is the latest saga in the long-running case of Tate, who was convicted of killing Tiffany Eunick when he was only 12. He was the youngest person in modern U.S. history to receive a life sentence.

After he received the letter from Tate asking to change his plea, Lazarus scheduled a hearing for him on March 31.