Man gets 13
years for
tricking
girlfriend into
taking abortion
pills ......A Florida man who
admitted to tricking his pregnant girlfriend
into taking pills known to cause abortion has
been ordered to serve more than 13 years in
federal prison and to pay her about $28,500
in restitution, US prosecutors said. John Andrew Welden, 29, was sentenced on
Monday after pleading guilty in September to
charges of tampering with a consumer
product resulting in bodily injury and
conspiracy to commit mail fraud. As part of a plea agreement, Welden
admitted that he gave the pills to his
girlfriend, Remee Jo Lee, in March 2013 to
kill her unborn baby. Lee said he had forged
the signature of his father, an obstetrician,
on a prescription and conspired with a pharmacy employee to order Cytotec, which
can induce abortions. Cytotec, known generically as misoprostol, is
prescribed to prevent stomach ulcers and
carries a warning that it should not be used
during pregnancy because it can cause
abortion, birth defects and premature death. Welden scratched off identifying markings on
the pills and then placed them in a bottle with
a label provided by the unnamed pharmacy
co-conspirator indicating the contents were
amoxicillin, an antibiotic, prescribed for his
girlfriend, according to court documents. After taking what she believed to be the
antibiotic, Lee began experiencing severe
cramping and bleeding, and she subsequently
suffered a miscarriage. Lee and Welden met in 2012 at a
“gentlemen’s club” where she worked. Police
investigators found text messages between
the two showing Lee wanted to keep the baby
but Welden did not. Welden’s prison sentence consists of 10 years
for the consumer product tampering charge
and 44 months for mail fraud. US District Judge Richard Lazzara in Tampa
also sentenced Welden to serve three years
of supervised release after his prison term. Lee has sued the pharmacy where she said
the drug, prescription bottle and a faked
label were obtained.