The mother of a 19-month old boy who tested positive for methamphetamine in his system pled guilty to endangering her child during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Both of the parents, 27-year-old Ryan Eberley, and 28-year-old Alexandra Neel, were initially charged with introducing a controlled substance into the body of another, endangering the welfare of a minor and two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia.
Neel pled guilty to the endangering and possession of drug paraphernalia charges. The state dismissed the introducing drugs into the body of another charge.
Eberley is scheduled to appear in his cases early next month.
In addition to the initial charges in the child endangerment case, Eberley was accused of crimes committed while he was an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center. According to the probable cause affidavit in the jail case, 23-year-old Sean David Ford tried to sneak methamphetamine, tobacco and one dosage unit of a Schedule III controlled substance into the jail.
The contraband was meant to be delivered to Eberley.
On April 30, Ford brought a Walmart photo envelope into the detention center. Because staff was occupied, he was told to leave it in the lobby of the building and it would be picked up and delivered later.
When a jailer picked up the package, she noticed it was heavy and bulky. When it was searched, the contraband was found.
In addition, Ford had hand written and signed a letter to Eberley and put it in the package that provided evidence of his involvement. He was also recognized on surveillance camera footage bringing the package into the jail building lobby.
Eberley is alleged to have admitted during an interview that he was expecting the illegal contents to be in the package. In the jail case, Eberley is charged with conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine, conspiracy to deliver a Schedule III controlled substance and furnishing, possessing or using prohibited articles in the jail.
In the child endangerment case, Eberley and Neel were arrested in February after a hair follicle test run on their small son showed a significant level of methamphetamine in his system. According to the probable cause affidavit, the amount of methamphetamine in the child’s system was 200 times the amount required for detection.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) removed the child from the home after the test results were received.
When the couple’s residence along Opportunity Street in Gassville was checked, DHS staff reported seeing two glass pipes normally used to smoke methamphetamine in a drawer in the couple’s bedroom that they shared with the child.
According to the child’s doctor, the little boy’s medical conditions and complex medical care requirements put him at risk for “adverse outcomes” if his caregivers “are under the influence of substances” and unable to provide the 24-hour-care needed.
At the time of her recent arrest, Neel was on probation after being convicted of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in August 2018 and being sentenced to six years probation.
A petition to revoke the suspended sentence was filed after charges in the child endangering case were filed against her.
The state dismissed the revocation petition.
Eberley and Neel have been inmates in the county jail since February 14. His bond is set at $60,000. Her bond was set at $50,000
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