By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 32-year-old Columbiana woman will spend the next year in prison after she pleaded guilty to taking methadone while she was pregnant.

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves sentenced Georgia Donette Wright to one year in prison after Wright pleaded guilty to one felony count of chemical endangerment of a child.

Reeves split Wright’s original prison sentence of 10 years, meaning Wright will serve one year in prison followed by three years of supervised probation. She received 70 days of jail credit for time served in the Shelby County Jail.

While she is incarcerated, Wright must complete a “substance abuse treatment assessment and any substance abuse treatment program recommended by such assessment,” according to court documents.

The Altoona Police Department arrested 31-year-old Georgia Donette Wright on June 6 and charged her with one count of chemical endangerment of a child where a controlled substance is produced. Her arrest warrant was issued by the Alabaster Police Department, and came after she gave birth to a child at Alabaster’s Shelby Baptist Medical Center on March 13, according to the warrant.

When she was arrested on June 6, she was out on a $15,000 bond for a second-degree possession of a forged instrument charge brought by the Columbiana Police Department in 2012. Her bond for the Columbiana charge has been revoked, according to court documents.

Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney previously said the hospital reported the baby’s positive drug tests after the baby was born. Rigney said the baby tested positive for multiple drugs, including methadone.

Methadone is a controlled substance, and is sometimes used by licensed clinics to break patients’ dependence on opioids such as heroin or prescription painkillers.