COCAINE BABIES' MOM GETS 3-YEAR SENTENCE

Cynthia Smith, a 42-year-old Aurora woman who was prosecuted on drug charges
after giving birth to five babies with cocaine in their systems, was
sentenced Friday to 3 years in prison for violating probation rules
mandating that she stay off drugs.

In imposing the sentence, Kane County Judge Grant S. Wegner said Smith
showed no concern for a court system that he said had bent over backward to
help her fight her addiction.

"You appeared to be making great progress," Wegner said. "You seemed to have
a better attitude toward life. You handled yourself much better. Then you
let everybody down."

Wegner had ordered Smith into custody last month after prosecutors said she
violated the terms of her probation after testing positive for drugs.

Beginning in 1992, Smith gave birth to a cocaine baby each year for five
years. The last of the babies was stillborn in 1997. The surviving children
are in state custody.

After pleading guilty to drug-possession charges, Smith was sentenced in
February to 38 months of probation. A month later, she tested positive for
drugs and was sentenced to 70 days in jail, but Wegner told her then that if
she completed a drug rehabilitation program, she would not have to serve the
time.

But drug counselors testified at a sentencing hearing last week that Smith
had failed drug tests on at least two occasions, failed to keep appointments
with counselors and did not live with her mother in Batavia as ordered. Even
Smith's probation officer recommended she be sent to prison.

"The consequences of her actions have to be addressed," Assistant State's
Atty. Dan Kovak said in urging that Smith be sent to prison. "The court was
more than fair with this defendant in giving her the opportunity to treat
her addiction problems.

"She let everyone down. She let the court system down. She let her own
children down," Kovak said.

Smith's attorney, Greg Brown, argued that his client had tested negative on
numerous occasions since she began treatment and that the 38 days she has
spent in Kane County Jail since her probation was revoked was sufficient
punishment.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst