Welden to plead guilty in abortion pill case
John Andrew Welden, a 29-year-old former USF student accused of tricking his former pregnant girlfriend into consuming pills intended to induce an abortion, will plead guilty at a hearing today to charges that could lessen his sentence.
According to court documents, Welden will plea guilty to replacing the label of Cytotec pills, a stomach ulcer drug sometimes used to induce abortions, with labels for Amoxicillin and providing them to Remee Lee, his former girlfriend.
He was charged with two counts of “reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury” and “knowingly and willfully did combine conspire and agree with an unindicted co-conspirator to commit offenses against the United States.” His plea agreement states both parties agree on the terms of maximum sentences of 10 and 5 years, respectively, with three years of supervised release and will agree “to make full restitution to the victim(s) in this case, as determined by the court.”
The plea agreement states that both parties recommend a sentence of 164 months, or 13.7 years, with three years of supervised release. The document states if the court does not accept the terms of sentencing, Welden cannot retract his plea agreement.
— Staff report
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