Great-grandmother gets 5 years on meth charges

UKIAH, Calif. - A Northern California great-grandmother has been sentenced to prison after being convicted on methamphetamine charges.

Sixty-eight-year-old Nancie Erline Henthorne was ordered to serve five years in state prison by Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Richard Henderson Friday. The sentence comes after Henthorne pleaded guilty in January to possessing methamphetamine for sale.

She was also convicted of being armed with a firearm while committing a crime and of hiding proceeds from her drug sales.

In handing down the sentence, the judge said it was difficult for him to send a woman Henthorne's age to prison, but evidence indicated she was an established methamphetamine dealer in the tiny Mendocino County community of Covelo.

A granddaughter attending Henthorne's sentencing wept as her grandmother was handcuffed and led away.

When Henthorne was arrested at her home Aug. 11, 2009 authorities said they found a half pound of methamphetamine in her home, enough methamphetamine for about 2,000 doses, according to authorities.

During her trial, Henthorne testified that she began selling drugs when a restaurant she operated went out of business. Her attorney, Justin Peterson, said she had begun dealing methamphetamine in a failed effort to save her home and restaurant.

But Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Katherine Houston said there was evidence Henthorne had been selling drugs before her business closed.

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Information from: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat