CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield woman who planned to use methamphetamine while her child was in her car, pleaded guilty Monday during sentencing court.
Police say Brandy Lee Barrett, 38, and Donald Pentland, 44, of Osceola Mills, were spotted on Dec. 29, 2021, sitting in a vehicle pulled off the roadway in a known drug area with its lights on, leading the officer to do a welfare check on the occupants.
The driver, Pentland, said he pulled over because of the lights of another vehicle behind him. While speaking with him, the officer noticed Pentland was holding a torch style lighter, had a large axe next to his leg and numerous bags were in the backseat. When asked about the lighter, he said he had it for work.
Barrett was in the passenger seat and her three-year-old child was in the backseat, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Because he suspected drug activity, the officer had Pentland exit the vehicle, as he denied any illegal activity. Both Pentland and Barrett said they did not have a medical marijuana card.
After Pentland refused to consent to a search, a K-9 officer was requested.
While they waited, Barrett asked if she could get out of the vehicle to smoke because she didn’t want to smoke in front of the child.
She was advised if she did get out, he would have to pat her down for weapons. As this occurred, the officer saw large bulges in both of her sweatshirt pockets. She emptied her pockets, but it still appeared she had more items in them.
The officer searched the pockets finding two glass pipes, and a wallet that had numerous empty plastic bags containing suspected crystal methamphetamine residue.
After being read her rights, she admitted she and Pentland had both “used earlier in the morning,” according to the criminal complaint. She admitted they pulled over to use the little bit of meth they had left.
The officer noted that they shouldn’t be smoking meth in the car with the child there, but she stated they were going to get out first.
He then informed her that it didn’t matter because she would be under the influence while with her child and Pentland would be driving under the influence.
After receiving this information, Pentland agreed there was probable cause to search and he consented to a search of the vehicle, during which the officer found numerous glass pipes, a pipe filled with marijuana and a backpack with additional drug paraphernalia.
Clearfield County Children, Youth and Family Services was contacted and they took emergency custody of the child.
During court Monday, Barrett pleaded guilty to misdemeanor endangering the welfare of children and possession of a controlled substance. (Originally, she was also charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child.) Barrett was sentenced by Paul E. Cherry to serve 50 days to one year in the county jail with one-year concurrent probation.
She was ordered to undergo a drug and alcohol assessment and a nurturing program. She is to have no contact with the child unless it is supervised by CYS.
Online court documents indicate Pentland is also facing charges for this incident, but his case is listed as inactive and a warrant has been issued for his arrest because he did not appear for court on a revocation proceeding.
In a second case, Barrett pleaded guilty to misdemeanor evading arrest, false identification to law enforcement and possession of drug paraphernalia. For this she was given an additional year of probation.
According to the affidavit of probable cause in the second case, police were called to a Ferguson Township residence for a report of a criminal trespass on May, 20, 2023.
When police arrived, they learned the owner had caught an unidentified female on his property. The officer checked the name given by the woman, but this did not match the female suspect. She had given a false name and was advised she could be charged for that.
She then gave a different fake name, which was not able to be found in the officer’s system. She was then taken into custody for providing false information to police.
When her belongings were searched, the officer found a glass smoking device with marijuana in it and an ID card listing the woman as Barrett.
While still handcuffed, Barrett ran over an embankment into the woods, but the officer was able to catch her.
“She went to the ground and refused to get up and physically resisted troopers,” it says in the report. They were able to help her up and get into their patrol vehicle.
A check on her actual identity revealed a warrant on the previous case. The troopers did a full search on her backpack and found another smoking device and a small bag of crystal methamphetamine.
