LIMBLESS INMATE WAS TOO EXPENSIVE TO KEEP

Prison Frees Drug Dealer Who Cost $460 a Day May 24, 2000

PHOENIX (APBnews.com) -- The limbless marijuana dealer deemed too expensive
to lock up and care for in a state prison has been released on medical
furlough.

Deborah Lynn Quinn, wheelchair bound because of a birth defect that left
her with no legs and only a partial arm, was sentenced to a year in state
prison in February for violating probation by selling marijuana to an
undercover cop in her Kingman home.

But when Corrections Director Terry L. Stewart found out that it would cost
his department $460 a day to keep Quinn in a prison medical facility, he
criticized prosecutors and the sentencing judge, saying Quinn is not a
danger to the community and should not have been imprisoned.

Stewart ordered Quinn released from St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson at 7 a.m.
today. Corrections officials said she was picked up by her family and
driven to her home in Kingman.

Quinn has declined interviews. Corrections officials said they released the
woman from custody before notifying the media.

Monitoring at home

"We have been maintaining inmate Quinn in a detention area of St. Mary's
Hospital which is designated primarily for male inmates," Stewart said in a
prepared statement. "It would be inappropriate for her to be cared for in
this environment until her release date."

Under the terms of her release, Quinn must submit to urinalysis, get drug
abuse counseling and even allow Mohave County sheriff's deputies into her
home at any time to check on her, Stewart said.

Quinn, a divorced mother, has no arms, no right leg and a partial left leg,
and needs a battery-powered wheelchair to get around. She also needs help
dressing, feeding herself and bathing.

The Kingman woman had been placed on probation Oct. 1, 1999, after pleading
guilty to attempted sale of marijuana to a police informant.

Says she smokes pot to relax

About three months later, probation officers searched her home and found
nearly four ounces of marijuana, scales and other drug paraphernalia, court
records stated.

Quinn told officers that she smokes marijuana to relax and is not a dealer.
She said due to her handicap, she has lots of friends who visit her.

Investigators said that Quinn has no history of employment, receiving $700
a month in Social Security and Aid to Families with Dependent Children
benefits. She also owns a home.