[Stovegeothnon]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35537878...ews/?GT1=43001
Okee dokee...........

VILLE PLATTE, La. - A 52-year-old Louisiana woman has pleaded guilty to two counts of sale of a minor for trading two children to a couple in exchange for an exotic pet bird and $175.

Donna Louise Greenwell received 15 months of hard labor on each count on Monday, which she will serve concurrently.

The Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court's Office tells The Advocate newspaper that Greenwell will begin serving her sentence March 25.

The couple, Paul James Romero and Brandy Lynn Romero, each pleaded guilty to the same charges in October.

Greenwell was accused of selling the couple a 4-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy in return for the cash and a cockatoo. (such an obvious straight line that I will just leave this to the resident FM'ers) Both children were in Greenwell's care after their biological parents had left them with her.

[ppfpooghn]

I know it's not really meant to be funny.. but selling 2 kids for cockatoo wthhh what next do people come up with???? poor kids though

[valiumnopresc]

The kids must have been pretty noisy to want to trade them for a cockatoo. But the $175 does sweeten the deal...

[NumDusthouh]

Donna Louise Greenwell received 15 months of hard labor on each count on Monday, which she will serve concurrently.

That's kind of... a light punishment. Why exactly did they offer her a plea deal in the first place?

[hwood]

wow this will probably raise the kids self-esteem when they grow older.

[thumbdown]

[adultcomicssitedessaa]

should be able to get at least a chinchilla or small dog for two kids.

why pay $175 for something you can make at home for nothing?

[Stovegeothnon]

That's kind of... a light punishment. Why exactly did they offer her a plea deal in the first place?

Who knows. The court system is quirky at best.

[namaikaimvputka]

why pay $175 for something you can make at home for nothing?

because babies are troublesome, there is no "press spacebar to skip". [surrender]

[ThomasMannfanny]

What exactly does "hard labour" consist of?

[mas-dkt-sive]

What exactly does "hard labour" consist of?

What is "labour"?

[Stovegeothnon]

What exactly does "hard labour" consist of?

"hard labor" means physical or mental labor which is performed for a defined period of time not to exceed forty hours each week. The hard work shall include useful and productive work and menial labor performed in a chain gang while outside the prison, and/or in work groups within the prison.

To the extent that programs are available, inmates' participation may also be allowed to participate in correctional education and rehabilitation programs. "Hard labor" does not include labor which is dangerous to an inmate's health or life, is unduly painful, or is required to be performed under conditions that would violate occupational safety and health standards applicable to such labor if performed by a person who is not an inmate.

[Phywhewashect]

What is "labour"?

________
Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant

[tomsmuidh]

1 bird and $175? You can easily sell children on the black market for $10,000 a head.

[mas-dkt-sive]

1 bird and $175? You can easily sell children on the black market for $10,000 a head.

Black market = craigslist?

[tomsmuidh]

Black market = craigslist?

Nah, craigslist keeps banning my accounts.

[mas-dkt-sive]

Nah, craigslist keeps banning my accounts.

Don't give up. One day you'll get your cockatoo back.

[Stovegeothnon]

The story has been updated:

VILLE PLATTE, La. - A Louisiana woman has pleaded guilty to selling two children for a cockatoo and $175 in what her attorney called an attempt to do a good thing that went wrong. "It was a really clumsy attempt at an adoption proceeding," said Steve Sikich, attorney for Donna Louise Greenwell of Pitkin. "She was trying to help the children and get them situated."

Greenwell, 53, was sentenced Monday to 15 months of hard labor on each of two criminal counts: sale of a minor. The sentences are to run concurrently.

The case centered on a 5-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl in Greenwell's custody. Investigators said she called Paul J. Romero, 46, and Brandy Lynn Romero, 27, of Evangeline Parish early last year after seeing a flyer they posted offering a cockatoo for sale, and offered to deliver the children for about $2,000. When the Romeros said they could not afford that, a deal was stuck for the bird, valued at $1,500, plus cash.

Greenwell had custody of the children for more than a year before meeting the Romeros, Sikich said. Her lawyers have maintained she was just trying to find a better home for them.

"They were undernourished and not well taken care of," Sikich said. "It's my understanding that the mother had requested that she take care of the kids." Another lawyer for Greenwell had said previously that they children were "abandoned to her care."

Neither the children's' mother or father could be located, Sikich said. The $175 was to cover the cost of an attorney to transfer custody of the children to the Romeros, Sikich said. The cockatoo was a gift toGreenwell's granddaughter, he said.

Plea deal

Greenwell's sentences were part of a plea deal worked out with the Evangeline Parish District Attorney's office.Sikich said Greenwell could have faced up to 10 years on each count and another 20 years as a habitual offender. The district attorney agreed not to file charges against Greenwell as a habitual offender as part of the plea bargain, Sikich said.

"She did not have a good attorney for two previous counts, which left her with a record she didn't really deserve," he said. He said the charges were for issuing worthless checks and second-degree battery.

The Romeros, of Eunice, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sale of a minor child, the district attorney said in an earlier statement. Their five-year prison sentences were suspended in exchange for their testimony against Greenwell, the statement said.
The district attorney's office did not return repeated calls Tuesday for comment.
Greenwell will begin serving her sentence on March 25.

[emily]

so she wanted 2 grand for the 2 kids and when the buyers said they couldn't afford that, they took a bird and $175 instead [rofl]
not saying its funny but what else can you say about it
i don't believe anyone could be so fooked up to do that

so you swap 2 kids for a manky bird and a few quid [help]

[ThomasMannfanny]

What is "labour"?

The English spelling of "labor".

[MzTT]

Apparently this is what the bird looks like



In reality, the kids have "hopefully" gone to a better place.