Mom of Bristol Palin's Ex Cops Plea

(AP)  The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned on marrying has reached a plea deal in her drug case.

Sherry Johnston pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin. Five other felony counts were dropped.

"That's pretty," Johnston said as a state trooper's pink handcuffs were placed around her wrists.

She hugged her lawyer, Rex Butler, before being escorted out of the courtroom and taken to a correctional facility where she'll be held until her Nov. 20 sentencing.

Although Johnston could receive 20 years in prison, her attorney and prosecutors agreed to a five-year sentence, with two years suspended, Butler said, considering the small quantities of drugs involved. The judge has the sentencing recommendation under review.

Johnston, 42, is the mother of 19-year-old Levi Johnston. He and 18-year-old Bristol Palin were engaged but called the wedding off after their son, Tripp, was born in December.

Levi Johnston didn't attend his mother's hearing but his younger sister, Mercede, did.

Sherry Johnston has two pain pumps implanted in her body to deliver medication because she suffers a rare condition involving scurvy and chronic pelvic pain from prior medical surgeries, Butler said. She was receiving professional pain relief treatment but the problems arose when her insurer refused to pay for the medication, Butler said.

"People want to think she was just a drug addict," he said. "She made a poor judgment choice. But what do you do?"

Assistant District Attorney Richard K. Allen said prosecutors considered Johnston's criminal-free background as well as her physical problems in agreeing to the mitigated sentence.

"Rehabilitation would be the goal," he said.

The case against Johnston began last September when investigators intercepted a package containing 179 OxyContin pills. The suspects who were arrested agreed to become informants.

Police said Johnston set up a meeting with one of the informants, who bought 10 pills of 80-milligram OxyContin using $800 provided by investigators. A second purchase was made the following day, and a third purchase in November was videotaped by police, authorities said.

Johnston was arrested in mid-December and charged with six felony drug counts. Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin's baby was born a short time later.

Sarah Palin announced on the first day of the Republican National Convention on Sept. 1, 2008, that her unwed daughter was pregnant. The McCain-Palin campaign issued a statement saying Bristol Palin "and the young man" would get married.

Sherry Johnston eventually disclosed that her son was the father. The following week, Levi Johnson attended the convention in St. Paul, Minn., when Sarah Palin accepted the vice presidential nomination.

Palin resigned as Alaska governor last month.

[dianne4dees]

What a family Levi comes from!! Why does this CBS article have to drag in the Palin family? CBS and the rest of the MSM, along with The View, etc., keep attempting to make Levi into some wonderful thing when in actuality he is a pure and simple opportunist looking for a few bucks anyway he can make it. In other words, he is a *****.

[kansas1946]

Gosh, another waste of jail space and taxpayer money paying for it. I feel SO much safer that this woman will be in prison. America has become a lunatic asylum.

[gomzee69]

What is it with these names? Bristol, Levi, Mercede, Trip?

Is it too cold in Alaska for these people to use real names?

[jt92202]

With the rise in unprescribed presciption drug use across the country within our youth, this woman should be jailed for longer than 3 years (5 with 2 probation). We lost my nephew last year to a drug overdose, 20 years old and it started with a prescription for Oxy for pain after a snowboarding accident when he was 16. He then graduated into Heroin when the Oxy no longer worked for him. This is the same story many people have across the country with their kids and family members. This woman was not a person in pain looking for the drugs herself, she is a DRUG DEALER she needs more time in jail!!!! And all of this was going on under her roof with children of her own living with her, SHAME on her. No wonder Levi pretty much lived at the Palins home, I wouldn't want to be around that lifestyle either!!!!

[Forbus56]

The mom of Sarah Palin's daughter's ex-fiancee....

Edward R. Murrow must be turning over in his grave.

[credibility2]

...as the mother goes, so goes the son..trashy and low-class...it's a shame Bristol was taken-in by the son who only wanted sex without any of the responsibility...his momma must be so proud of him and vice-versa...

[guest173]

I hope she learned her lesson and won't repeat that mistake again. it does show bad judgment though, and I think her son has that too (and so do their friends the Palins). there is a proverb that says you can tell a person by looking at their friends, very true.

[Oregon_State_OSU]

I don't blame Sherry Johnson at all. If I had to deal with a Woman as Stupid as Sarah Palin, Day in and Day out > I would be on a diet of Vicodin and Vodka.

[HailDiscordia]

Why would people want to think she was just a drug addict? According to the facts in this article she is a drug dealer! Much worse than being an addict. Addiction is a disease, dealing is just CRIMINAL!

[MiddleClassWorker]

THIS is why we need health care reform, she was denied painkillers by the insurance company! Even Palin can see the logic here... ummm.... well... she won't.