Grandma gets 57 mos. for dealing near school

BY MICHAEL HINKELMAN, Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: June 19, 2012

A KENSINGTON grandmother who was the primary caretaker for her 8-year-old grandson was sentenced to 57 months in a federal lockup Monday for dealing prescription painkillers and other drugs out of her home.

Diane Donnelly, 45, whose residence was within 1,000 feet of the Henry A. Brown Elementary School that her grandson attended, was arrested in May 2011 after cops said she illegally distributed controlled substances to an undercover Philadelphia police officer. She has been in federal custody since her arrest.

She pleaded guilty in December to distribution of a controlled substance and related offenses.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Donnelly, who had abused oxycodone and other prescription painkillers since she was a teen, invited strangers into her home so she could sell drugs to them.

When authorities executed a search warrant at Donnelly's Firth Street home in January 2011, they recovered 16 small, medium and large Ziploc bags containing various pills, including Xanax, Ritalin and Adderall, as well as liquid morphine and opium, an arrest affidavit said. Authorities valued the stash at more than $28,000.

Contact Michael Hinkelman at 215-854-2656 or hinkelm@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @MHinkelman.

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