Lacey WeldKNOXVILLE – The lawyer for a 26-year-old woman sentenced Tuesday to 12 years and seven months in federal prison because she was eight months pregnant while helping cook and sample meth said he’ll appeal.
The lawyer for Lacey Weld, of Dandridge, Tenn., said he plans the appeal because U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan opted to add prison time for putting a minor — Weld’s unborn child — at “substantial risk” while making the drugs.
Varlan ruled that the drug use “manifested itself” in actual harm after the child’s birth.
Defense attorney John Eldridge told the Knoxville News Sentinel it appears to be the first time a judge has added prison time in such a circumstance. He plans to ask the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to hear the case.
“If the guideline meant fetus, it would have said fetus,” Eldridge said. “We look forward to addressing this most sensitive and important issue with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.”