PARAGOULD, Ark. — A Paragould woman received four years of probation after pleading guilty to two felonies in a case in which police said she appeared impaired while she was the sole caregiver of her 1-month-old infant.
Ciera Nicole Becker, 26, entered a negotiated guilty plea July 28 to fraudulent practices involving controlled substances and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, both Class D felonies.
Circuit Judge Pam Honeycutt deferred adjudication and placed Becker on 48 months of probation. The court did not enter a judgment of guilt.
Under the deferred arrangement, Becker can have the case dismissed and sealed only after successfully completing all terms and conditions of probation. If she violates those conditions, the court can enter an adjudication of guilt and proceed with sentencing.
The order included five days in jail, with credit for five days already served. Becker was also assessed $860 in court costs and fees.
Prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Paragould police were dispatched shortly before 9:40 a.m. June 12 to a residence in the 600 block of North 12th Street after receiving a report of an intoxicated woman stealing medication.
Residents told officers that Becker said she was organizing their medication cabinet while they were away. One resident reported that hydrocodone and Klonopin were missing.
Police said Becker had slow, slurred speech and was staggering and swaying while packing her vehicle to leave. She reportedly told officers she had taken prescribed hydrocodone and muscle relaxers.
Because of the medication theft allegations, officers asked to examine Becker’s prescription bottles. Police said Becker told them they might find prescription weight-loss medication inside her hydrocodone bottle.
Officers reported finding seven phentermine pills, a Schedule IV controlled substance. The affidavit states that the pills were prescribed to one of the residents and that Becker had no known prescription for the medication.
Becker initially told officers that the resident had shared the phentermine with her, according to the affidavit. During an interview the following day, she acknowledged organizing the medication cabinet but claimed the resident had placed the pills in her bottle without her knowledge.
Police said Becker’s 1-month-old infant had been in her sole care during and before the incident.
A judge initially set Becker’s bond at $10,000 and ordered her to have no contact with the alleged victims of the fraudulent-practices charge and to comply with a Department of Human Services investigation involving the child.
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