OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma mother who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for selling marijuana worth $31, released, then arrested again for unpaid court fees has been released from jail after several donors paid her outstanding balance.
Patricia Spottedcrow was released from the Oklahoma County Jail just after 3 p.m. Wednesday after she was arrested Monday on a bench warrant for owing the Kingfisher County Court Clerk’s office $3,569.76, $1,139.90 of which had to be paid for her to be released.
The clerk’s office confirms to News 4 that seven strangers paid off Spottedcrow’s entire $3,569.76 balance.
Spottedcrow is finally free of all the debt incurred as part of her punishment for selling a $30 bag of weed a decade ago.
“The average person who’s working out there on an hourly job, can’t afford that,” said legal expert Scott Adams. “And the more time you wait, the more money you owe them and it’s just a vicious cycle.”
Spottedcrow also battling the legal terms of her early release.
The district attorney in Kingfisher County revoked her bond back in 2018.
Court documents show it's because she "failed to report to her probation officer once a month" and because she told a police officer she had "consumed beer on or about the 28th day of July 2017."