Pregnant Elgin woman going to prison after trying to foil drug test

A 26-year-old Elgin woman more than seven months pregnant was sentenced Friday to a year in prison on allegations she tried to hide her drug use from authorities by attempting to pass off someone else's urine as her own for a court-ordered test.

McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather issued the sentence after an emotional court hearing in which defendant Ryan L. Burke pleaded for probation, saying she was terrified of giving birth while behind bars.

Prather, however, noted that Burke has received probation in the past, only to go on and commit further offenses.

"I don't think she makes a good candidate for probation," Prather said. "She has been unwilling or unable to comply with the terms of probation in the past."

Burke, of the 0-100 block of Alfred Avenue, was charged May 12 with defrauding a drug and alcohol screening test after, police said, she strapped a small bottle containing a friend's urine onto her chest and smuggled it into the county's probation offices. A probation officer spotted the bottle, leading to her arrest.

The Elgin woman had been required to take the test as part of a two-year probation sentence handed down in January 2009 after her conviction for heroin possession.

Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney David Metnick said Friday that one week before her arrest, Burke tested positive for opiates and marijuana.

In a statement read in court by her attorney, Burke admitted she had made several mistakes in her life, but said she had learned from her latest arrest and wanted another chance at probation.

The statement said she has made arrangements to give up her child for adoption after birth, expected in about seven weeks.