Amanda Lynn Norris
Leonardtown, MD — A Callaway woman has been sentenced to three years in jail after pleading guilty to distribution of cocaine. Amanda Norris, 27, was sentenced April 13 by Judge Michael Stamm to a total of seven years, but he suspended all but three years.
Norris was indicted October 3, 2014 after being arrested for making a sale to undercover detectives from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office. She pled guilty Jan. 30 of this year.
Before the sentencing hearing began, the attorney for Norris, Cynthia Panis, reported that her client was on prescription medication that day. The judge asked Norris if the medication was affecting her ability to make decisions that day and she said it wasn’t.
Panos said her client was selling to pay for her own habit. But Judge Stamm said with distribution charges it didn‘t make any difference to him what the reason was.
Panos reported that Norris had three children and was completing her GED and just wanted a chance to “get her life back on track.” She asked the judge to consider probation. But Judge Stamm said she needed the treatment that could be afforded her in jail. “Once you become an addict you can’t do it on your own,” he said.
Norris will be on three year’s supervised probation after being released from incarceration in the state penal system.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com