text: The surviving daughters of a mother who has been imprisoned for strangling six of her children to death moments after they were born are standing by their murderous mom. Megan Huntsman, 40, is facing life in prison after pleading guilty to killing the six newborns, then stashing their bodies in the garage of her home in Pleasant Grove, Utah. A judge today handed Huntsman six sentences of five years to life - but family members rallied round her even as her 'cold and calculated' crimes were recounted to the court. Scroll down for video . Prison: Megan Huntsman, 40, was today given six terms of five years to life in prison after admitting the murders. Three will run consecutively, which means she will spend at least 15 years in prison - and likely much longer. She is pictured today in court . Grisly: Investigators are shown above searching Huntsman's garage, where a total of seven baby corpses were found in cardboard boxes. One of the children was stillborn - Huntsman strangled the rest . Huntsman, a meth addict, told police that she started killing off her children when she got pregnant because her drug problem meant she couldn't care for them. Local reports from the courtroom told how Hunstman's attorney took to the stand and read out letters from two of her daughters, who were born before her addiction began. The letters drew a stark contrast between the loving mother they say they knew, and the type of woman who would kill her own flesh and blood on six different occasions. Her mother, Joyce Huntsman, was reportedly in court - and took the stand to tearfully defend her daughter despite the heinous crimes. Discovery: Hunstman, left, was arrested after her estranged husband Darren West, right, found the bodies in her garage. West, who previously served time in prison, is not considered a suspect in their deaths . Scene: Her estranged husband found one of the babies' bodies while cleaning out the garage at her Pleasent Grove, Utah home, pictured, in April last year . She told the court that the woman who committed the crimes was 'not my Megan'. According to the KSL local news station, a detective recounted Huntsman's cold and deliberate method of execution. Unwitting: West, pictured after the sentencing, is thought not have known nothing about the murders . The officer said Huntsman told she would take the babies in her hands when they were just minutes old. Then, he said, she would press on their necks with her thumbs until they choked to death. She would then put their tiny bodies in . Ultimately the corpses of seven babies were found - one of which was determined to have been stillborn. The crimes were uncovered by Huntsman's husband Darren West - now estranged - who called police when he found the first body. The births and murders are said to have taken place from 1996 to 2006. According to stunned neighbors when she was arrested, Huntsman was 'perpetually slim' and they would never have suspected she was pregnant. The sentences handed down to Huntsman today were the maximum possible for her crimes. Three of them will be served consecutively - meaning she will spend a minimum of 15 years inside, and likely much longer. The sentence brings closure to a case that sent shockwaves through the quiet, mostly Mormon community where Huntsman stored the tiny bodies for more than a decade. The small city of Pleasant Grove is south of Salt Lake City.
target: Megan Huntsman, 40, pleaded guilty to the six murders in February .
  Police said children, born between 1996 and 2006, were alive just minutes .
  She would strangle newborns with her thumbs and hide them in garage .
  Two of her old daughters spoke up for their mom in letters read in court .
  Huntsman, from Pleasant Grove, Utah, was sentenced for her crimes today .
  Given six sentences of five years to life, three of which are consecutive .
  Means she will spend at least 15 years behind bars, and likely much longer .