AUBURN — A local woman who forged state welfare documents, sold her son’s prescription medicine and urged two witnesses to lie for her was sentenced Thursday to 18 months behind bars.
Jamie Childs, 31, of 21 Spring St. pleaded guilty to three felony counts of aggravated forgery. She had faced a total of 30 years in prison.
On one of the charges, Childs agreed to a sentence of six years in prison, with all of that time suspended except for 18 months. On each of the other two charges, she was sentenced to nine months in jail to be served at the same time as the sentence on the first charge.
Childs must pay $3,323.41 in restitution to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
After her release, she will be on probation for three years. During that time, she will be barred from having or using alcohol and illegal drugs and can be searched and tested for both at random. She also must undergo complete substance abuse counseling and treatment.
While awaiting trial on these charges, Childs violated the conditions of her release by telling DHHS that her now-8-year-old son was living with her in her effort to collect public assistance. As a result, DHHS overpaid her by $842, according to Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell, who prosecuted the case.
Two witnesses for the prosecutor said Childs had contacted them and asked them to provide false information to a state investigator.
Her bail was revoked and she has been at Androscoggin County Jail since last fall.
Childs forged a note to DHHS in March 2014 that purported to be from her father. It said he had paid for her rent, but would stop as soon as she delivered her baby in June.
In another note dated April 2014, Childs forged the signature of a woman, who purportedly sold the building in which Childs had been living and that the landlord was evicting Childs.
A third note, also date April 2014, was forged by Childs. It indicated that a property manager had an apartment for her to rent that would cost her $300 to put under contract.
Mitchell said all three people whose signatures appeared on the notes denied involvement.
Subsequent charges included: forgery; theft; two counts of witness tampering; and aggravated trafficking of scheduled drug. She also was charged with violation of condition of release, a misdemeanor.
She pleaded guilty to each of the charges except for drug trafficking. Instead, she pleaded guilty to a new drug charge that is a lower class felony.
The theft charge stemmed from her collection of benefits from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program.
On that charge, she was sentenced to five years in prison, with all of that time suspended except for nine months. On each of the other felony charges, she was sentenced to nine months in jail. On the misdemeanor charge, she was sentenced to six months in jail. She was fined $400 on the drug charge.
Mitchell said Thursday that Childs had sold 10 of her son’s 60 Focalin pills, prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The drug transaction occurred within 1,000 feet of a safe zone.
Childs is allowed to serve all of the sentences at the same time as the aggravated forgery sentence. That means, she will only spend up to 18 months in prison, unless she violates the terms of her probation.
She will be credited for nine months she has been at the Androscoggin County Jail.
cwilliams@sunjournal.com
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