Day care center operator gets 10 years for drugging children

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A woman who ran an unlicensed day care center out of her Indianapolis home who pleaded guilty to six felony counts of neglect of a dependent after drugging children in her care has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The Indianapolis Star reports (http://indy.st/16Dmu1d ) the sentence given 38-year-old Stephanie Gribble by Marion Criminal Court Judge Mark Stoner on Friday was the maximum term allowed under the plea agreement that Gribble's attorney, Jim Snyder, had reached with the Marion County prosecutor's office. Her prison sentence will be followed by three years of work release and seven years of probation.

Stoner told Gribble she's lucky she didn't kill the children. Authorities said four children were hospitalized last February after apparently overdosing at the day care center.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com