Meth Mom Sentenced to 6 Years

A 27-year-old California woman, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter after her 5-month-old son died from her methamphetamine-tainted breast milk, has been sentenced to six years in prison. Maggie Jean Wortman could have faced up to 11 years for the death of her infant son.

It is believed to be the first time a woman in California has been convicted of manslaughter by breast feeding.

After her son Michael was found dead in her trailer home in November 2010, Wortman at first denied that her drug use had anything to do with his death. She suggested to investigators that someone may have suffocated the child.

Originally Charged With Murder

When the child's autopsy revealed that he had died of methamphetamine toxicity, prosecutors at first charged Wortman with murder. That charge was thrown out by the judge because he said no evidence had been presented to show that she knew that she was endangering her son by breast feeding him.

In February, Wortman pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter after the murder charge was reduced.

At her sentencing hearing, her attorneys asked for leniency because they said Wortman was now working on her sobriety and had "suffered tremendously by losing her baby."

But Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson said the crime warranted prison time.

"The victim, the baby, was five weeks old, and it's certainly hard to get beyond the vulnerability of such a young infant," Judge Watson said.

^{News Source: California Mom Gets 6 Years in Prison for Killing Baby With Meth-Tainted Breast Milk}

Related Information:

• Mom Guilty in Meth Breast Milk Case
  
• The Health Effects of Methamphetamine
  
• The Face of Meth Use

^{Photo: Police Mug Shot}