COUPLE ACCUSED OF SELLING BABIES, DRUG POSSESSION

POTEAU -- A LeFlore County judge is pondering the case of a couple accused
of living off the money paid to them by adoption agencies and prospective
adoptive parents.

Rhonda Crackel, who is pregnant with her 11th child, and the father of the
children, Michael Cox, are charged with child trafficking and food-stamp
fraud. Cox and Crackel also have a preliminary hearing set for April 21 on
a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

At the couple's preliminary hearing Wednesday, Special District Court Judge
Michael D. Lee delayed ruling if they were to be bound over for trial
pending his consideration of a petition filed with another judge.

First Assistant District Attorney Farley Ward said expenses in arranged
adoptions legally should be overseen by a judge.

"There had not been any petition filed where they had been asking for these
expenses to be approved until just a couple of weeks ago and that's
obviously several weeks after the charges had been filed," Ward said. The
money Cox and Crackel was receiving was for expenses that were not
reasonable and proper under Oklahoma law for adoption purposes, he said.
Crackel's last three children have been given up for adoption, he said.

Crackel's mother, Judy Laskowski, also was charged with food-stamp fraud,
and has been released from jail on $500 bond. Laskowski has not yet had a
preliminary hearing. Crackel and Cox received at least $7,500 from the
Advocates for Adoption Agency in New York and failed to report the income
when they received $1,018 in food stamps, records show.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services' Inspector General office
investigated the case. DHS Agent Carl Levingston said the couple has been
investigated for possible child trafficking in Fairfield and Vallejo,
Calif., and Reno, Nev., where the other three adoptions occurred, reports
said. No charges were filed in those cases.

When told she was being charged with food-stamp fraud, Crackel allegedly
requested bail money from the adoption agency, authorities said. Laskowski
had received $440 in food stamps but was ineligible because she was a felon
fleeing from a previous conviction, records said.

A conviction of child trafficking carries a term of up to three years in
prison. A conviction of food-stamp fraud could result in two years in
prison and a $5,000 fine.