CANTON — A pregnant Lowville woman who was supposed to be sentenced to probation in Lewis County Court Monday for making meth was threatened that if she didn’t quit smoking marijuana, she would be giving birth in jail.
Ruth Green, 27, of 9486 E Road, had her sentencing for her April 6, 2018, guilty plea to third-degree unlawful manufacturing of methamphetamine after completing one year of interim probation adjourned for three months.
As part of an original plea deal with the district attorney’s office, had Ms. Green successfully completed her interim probation, she would have been given the opportunity to vacate her felony plea and plead to a misdemeanor, be given one year of credit and be placed on four years of probation.
But she didn’t do those things, County Judge Jerome J. Richards said.
He read from probation reports that stated Ms. Green, in mid-October of last year, tested positive for THC and that she admitted to marijuana use to cope with a miscarriage. However, due to the low levels of THC found in her system, she was allowed to successfully complete the substance abuse treatment she was participating in at the time.
He said she maintained steady employment but failed to report to probation in February and March. When she reported to probation in April, she told probation she was pregnant and, after testing positive again for marijuana use, said she was smoking marijuana twice a week prior to learning she was pregnant.
When she reported to court for sentencing on Monday, where she told the court she was three months pregnant, she tested positive for THC again. Her attorney Daniel C. Ramsey, told her that she potentially faced up to 2½ years in prison but asked the court that her modest successes of completing treatment and keeping steady work be taken into consideration and requested that Ms. Green be placed on another year of interim-probation to come into compliance.
The judge declined.
He adjourned sentencing until Sept. 20 and released Ms. Green under probation supervision, giving her seven days to get a chemical dependency evaluation. If she successfully completes her recommended treatment, she will be sentenced to straight probation but will be stuck with her felony conviction, the judge said.
“You have to stop smoking pot,” Judge Richards told her.
“Do you wanna have a baby in jail? ... Because it doesn’t matter to me. If you wanna have a baby in jail, you just keep going on the path you’re on.”