Patricia Marilyn Spottedcrow Gets 10 Years In Prison For $31 Of Marijuana

Patricia Marilyn Spottedcrow never thought selling marijuana would land her in jail for over a decade.

But Spottedcrow, 25, now faces that reality, which includes being separated from her four children and husband, according to NewsOk. She'll also have to end her work in nursing homes.

In December 2009, Delita Starr, the 50-year-old grandmother of Spottedcrow's children sold a "dime bag" to an informant in her home. She asked her 9-year-old grandson for dollar bills to make change for an $11 sale.

When the same informant came back two weeks later to buy $20 of marijuana from Spottedcrow and Starr's pot dealing days ended, according to Tulsa World.

Starr and Spottedcrow were arrested for distribution, but Spottedcrow faced the additional charge of possession of a dangerous substance in the presence of a minor since her children were there.

From NewsOk:

"It just seemed like easy money," said Spottedcrow, who says she is not a drug user but has smoked marijuana. "I thought we could get some extra money. I've lost everything because of it."

The women were each offered plea deals of two years in prison. But because neither had prior convictions and the drug amounts were low, they gambled and entered a guilty plea before a judge with no prior sentencing agreement.

Spottedcrow was sentenced to 10 years in prison for distribution of marijuana, and 2 years for possession, running concurrently, according to Tulsa World. Starr received a 30-year suspended sentence, with five years of drug and alcohol assessments.

Starr was fined $8,600 and Spottedcrow $2,740 as well.