Woman sentenced after giving birth to baby addicted to fentanyl
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IDAHO FALLS – A 37-year-old woman was sentenced after giving birth to a baby who was addicted to fentanyl.
District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced Linda Waite on Feb. 27 to a minimum of three years and a maximum of seven years in prison.
Watkins suspended the sentence, placing Waite on probation for five years. She will also be required to complete 100 hours of community service, complete court-mandated family treatment court, and pay over $1,600 in court costs, public defender fees, and fines.
Waite initially pleaded not guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor injury to a child. As part of a plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance, and the prosecution agreed to drop the charge of misdemeanor injury to a child.
Background
On June 12, Bonneville County Sheriff’s deputies were asked to assist Child Protective Services (CPS) in an investigation after Waite reported she was using methamphetamine and fentanyl while pregnant.
According to Waite, she was living in Pocatello with the baby’s father during the first trimester of her pregnancy but got kicked out due to others relapsing in the home.
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Police reports state Waite then moved to Idaho Falls, where she stayed in a camping trailer and used fentanyl during the last four months of her pregnancy. She reportedly used the drug in the form of “dirty 30” pills one to five times a day.
On May 30, Waite says she went to EIRMC for a doctor’s appointment, where the doctor decided to induce labor the next day.
Waite said that on May 31, the day she was induced, she used a “dirty 30” pill “just before going in to have her baby,” according to court documents.
The baby’s umbilical cord was sent to a lab for testing, and the baby was reportedly put on morphine to help with withdrawal symptoms.
According to a CPS employee, the results of the cord came back positive for fentanyl on June 12.
Waite was booked and arrested on June 23 and released shortly after.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Waite will have to complete 100 hours of community service per week until she’s employed full time. This was due to a typo in the court documents, and it has since been corrected to only 100 hours of community service total.