Mom who sold meth to put child through college gets 11 years
An Ohio mom of five sold several pounds of meth to buy her family a farm and to pay for the college education of one of her kids, her attorney claims.
Janet Gartner, 41, and her live-in boyfriend, Nicholas Tony Bair, 40, were not typical drug dealers because they allegedly didn’t use the 5 pounds of meth, along with cocaine and pot, found earlier this year in their rural farmhouse in Kimbolton, her attorney claimed to a judge on Monday, the Zanesville Times Recorder reports.
“She only wanted to sell enough to buy a farm and put one of her children through college,” attorney Nicole Churchill said, adding that the housekeeper for wealthy families in Licking County just wanted the best for her family.
“When the drugs were gone, it was going to be over,” Churchill said. “She would go back and be content on cleaning rich people’s toilets.”
But a prosecutor insisted Gartner and Bair wreaked havoc in central Ohio by selling 1-pound bags of meth for $6,500, including twice when authorities were watching them do so at a carwash in Dresden, officials said.
A subsequent search of the couple’s property revealed a trove of drugs and cash, including $160,000, hundreds of THC vape pens and hallucinogenic mushrooms, authorities said.
Judge Mark Fleegle was unmoved by Churchill’s emotional plea, sentencing Gartner to 11 years in prison on drug and corruption charges while ordering her to pay a $10,000 fine. Fleegle also told Gartner that her actions destroyed the lives of users and killed people, Y-City News reports.
“That can never be rationalized in my mind,” the judge said.
Bair, meanwhile, is expected to return to court to enter a plea on drug charges next month. Churchill’s attorney said he, too, just wanted what was best for Gartner’s family.
“I don’t believe anyone wakes up and goes, ‘You know, I want to sell meth,’” Churchill said in court, adding that a farm and college were the ultimate goals. “They would have had something they’d never had before.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/10/22/mom-who-sold-meth-to-put-child-through-college-gets-11-years/
Photo Credit: Police Handout