Mom Sentenced After Cocaine Found In Elementary Student’s Backpack

March 7, 2014

A Cantonment mom has been sentenced to probation after her daughter showed up at her elementary school with plastic bag of cocaine in her backpack.

Shana Christina Beck, 29, was charged with felony child neglect without great bodily harm but pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Adjudication was withheld and she was sentenced by Judge Michael Jones to 12 months probation. She was also ordered to look for a job, stay off drug and alcohol and complete parenting classes.

Students tipped off administrators last December at R.C. Lipscomb Elementary School that a student had a suspicious bag of white powder in her backpack.  The student told school officials and deputies that Beck and a friend were in their car the night before when they dropped the baggie and began a frantic search for it. The student said the baggie must have fallen into her open backpack, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report.

The white powder in the bag field tested positive for cocaine. The Department of Children and Family Services is also investigating the incident.

Comments

21 Responses to “Mom Sentenced After Cocaine Found In Elementary Student’s Backpack”

  1. molino on March 9th, 2014 1:32 am

    this is so sad what in the world was this judge thinking why go easy on her she not going to change any mom who would have drugs around her kid dose not need kids
    and why so easy when the kid took them to school this put not only her kid in danger but very many other kids did the judge not know all this are what let down will not vote for him get him out wounder what he would have done if his kids or grand kids went to this school i am sure the out come would have been jail time or more .

  2. Raisin on March 8th, 2014 7:49 pm

    It is true that they may not show up for the drug test but drugs like cocaine only have to be stopped a few days before testing to not show up… so perhaps they quit for a few days when they need to before testing. I just think that the government demanding peoples blood without probable cause is illegal. Needing assistance does not constitute probable cause. Look at Medicare recipients, they take all types of narcotics daily it would not only be a drug test, it would include research, possible transportation costs to obtain specimen samples for those bed bound. That’s not even the tip of the iceberg financially. It’s also unconstitutional…

  3. mee-mee on March 7th, 2014 10:57 pm

    oh gee oh my scared to voice my opinion not that it matter she need to do some time for her crime…….

  4. Biscuit on March 7th, 2014 8:26 pm

    I hope I get the same sorry poor excuse of a lawman judge when I screw up……….He should be ashamed of his actions. I’ll remind him of this at election time.

  5. chad weaver on March 7th, 2014 8:16 pm

    Once again the system failed – we pay judges with our hard earned tax money and she pleads out to a lesser charge!!! It will never change – the working men and women pay taxes for other people to make a very bad decision. She goes home to do more drugs and the judge drives home in his BMW that we are paying for. They both win while we go back to work to pay more taxes!!! GO FIGURE!!!!!!

  6. Terri Sanders on March 7th, 2014 7:27 pm

    Come on Judge jones…you getting soft in your old age ? I am disappointed in this sentencing…

  7. trisha on March 7th, 2014 6:20 pm

    I thought contributing to the delinquency of a minor meant the minor was consuming the product (example: underage drinking). I guess u need a vocab lesson.

    I certainly do not agree the punishment fit the crime. The judge simply said LOOK for a job, not find one. Who speaks for the children in cases likes these. They are returned to their parents who are endangering their livelihoods. It’s a disgrace. I’m sure the judge wouldn’t want his grandchildren raised by someone like this.

  8. darla on March 7th, 2014 3:38 pm

    some people get more time thn others its just how the system works. I know a lady that got three years for cocaine and had never been in any trouble. it depends on the side the penny lands on in the coin toss! the let her ple to a lesser charge and though it is not stated I am sure the judge withheld adjudication meaning she can get it tken off her record lter.

  9. madcow on March 7th, 2014 2:56 pm

    What a pathetic mother. So sad…. I grieve for the child who has been humiliated by this experience. Probably scarred for life.
    It’s a reasonable assumption that since this “mother” ’s unemployed, she must be getting money from somewhere. Anyone want to bet it is not from taxpayers?

    Since privately employed taxpayers– who support this kind of lifestyle–are often subject to drug testing, why not mandate drug tests for all food-stamp, welfare, and all other public assistance recipients?
    Wait… I can answer my own question: liberal lawmakers and political correctness. There is no excuse for enabling. And it does much harm to our society.

  10. TLC on March 7th, 2014 2:33 pm

    Why would she or any other dead beat get a JOB..The goverment is a wonderful employer..

  11. Don on March 7th, 2014 12:43 pm

    Raisin…First of all it is absurd to assume the”mother” was not on any type of assistance,how would someone without a JOB eat,pay rent and buy drugs?
    It is also absurd to require the workforce who pay’s for these welfare benefits to be drug tested but not the recipient.Govenor Scott has challenged the supreme court ruling against testing welfare recipients.The judge required her to get a JOB,could she also refuse drug testing there if required? talking about a Pandora’s box!….Your defense of her speaks volumes.

  12. marshall on March 7th, 2014 11:56 am

    Yo raisin – Question: If you know you are on drugs, and would be drug tested if you go down to get your food stamps…would you still go??? RIght…I did not think so. That is why only 2% failed the test…due they knew they would fail if tested, so did not go to get assistance. Just because a failure rate is low, does not mean it is not working. Just what we need…people on assistance using drugs and alcohol, like that is a necessity needed while you are on assistance. But then, assistance or not, you don’t need Cocaine…especially around your kids!

    This MOM should serve some time and have her on Monitored Visitation with the child!!!

  13. c.w. on March 7th, 2014 9:55 am

    When voting time comes, remember to vote and remember who the judges are that gives out these “harsh” sentences and vote them out. No wonder the governor ignores us, he is ashamed of our courts.

  14. Atmore G on March 7th, 2014 9:40 am

    Judging from the sentences handed down in Escambia County Florida, it must be the ideal place for criminals to ply their trade.. If they are caught, there are virtually no consequences..

  15. Raisin on March 7th, 2014 9:12 am

    Nothing in this article says the mother was on government assistance. Secondly it is illegal to drug test people on assistance. Besides the fact that the majority of people recieving assistance are the elderly, college students and children, when they did drug test less than 2% even failed the drug test. I want more rights not less, and harsher punishments for those breaking the law not punishment for everyone because someone else broke the law. Do some research and learn your amendment rights before trying to get them taken away from everyone. You give government an inch they’ll take a mile.

  16. Anne on March 7th, 2014 7:57 am

    Arrested for posession. Using cocaine. Does the judge really think anyone is going to hire her? People with college degrees and years of experience and our veterans can’t find jobs.

  17. Billy D on March 7th, 2014 7:09 am

    Oh NO, not look for a JOB!! Good grief and no alcohol or drugs? Hmmmm, how could she afford alcohol and drugs with no job anyway? Could it be assisted living at it’s best? This is the perfect reason for drug testing folks on ANY assisted income. She’ll be exactly the same after the 12 months of probation too. Watch…….

  18. cygie on March 7th, 2014 6:14 am

    “Sentenced to look for a job” as if this was some type of punishment! Speaks volumes that there was cocaine yet no employment.

  19. MAYBERRY Deputy on March 7th, 2014 6:09 am

    What a joke , our judges are a absolute embarrassment to this county. With no balls Bergosh handing down sentences that are like spitting in the prosecutors face , and now this, no wonder this county has the crime rate it does. I came across a individual who has been arrested 47 times, ” not a type o” from cocaine possession to making counterfeit money, and these judges barely sentence this guy. Florida’ s 3 strike law is a complete joke, the entire sentencing law’s need to be overhauled. But let’s start by getting the liberal judges of the bench

  20. Michelle on March 7th, 2014 6:09 am

    Get a job!! What kind of a sentence was that? Yeah, that will make her change her ways.

  21. JT on March 7th, 2014 12:57 am

    Aw yeah! Another hardball sentence from Escambia County court. The punishments being handed out is not even worth the taxpayers money that cover the officers investigating and the costs of prosecution. Her terms state she must stay away from drugs and alcohol….Isn’t that what the law said in the first place?