HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – A Hill County woman has been sentenced to five years in the Department of Corrections, with two suspended, after pleading guilty to felony endangering the welfare of children.
Cheryl Lynn Albert, born in 1971, was sentenced in Hill County District Court by Judge Kaydee Snipes-Ruiz on Monday.
During the suspended portion of the sentence, Albert must be in a recovery program.
In the Judgment, Snipes-Ruiz said Albert has been previously convicted of five misdemeanor child endangerment charges and has been unable to complete Treatment Court or maintain her sobriety, with the majority of her her drug sweat patches testing positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine.
As part of the plea agreement in this case, the other charges filed in this case (two additional counts of felony child endangerment, one misdemeanor count of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia) were dismissed.
Court documents state that in November 2019, the Havre Police Department responded to a Havre residence after receiving a report that a child had witnessed their mother hiding syringes in the garbage. The syringes were obtained by authorities and tested positive for methamphetamine.
Tri-Agency Task Force officers entered the same residence the following day after obtaining a warrant and observed three individuals, including Albert, coming out of a bathroom with white smoke visible.
Authorities then interviewed the three individuals.
Albert then admitted to authorities that the syringes were hers, and that they had been in a kitchen cupboard that was easily accessible to children.
Agents then located two light bulbs that had been used to smoke methamphetamine in a shirt pocket in an unlocked bedroom.
Albert is currently in the Hill County Detention Center awaiting transfer to the Department of Corrections.
