Photo: Michael P. King/The Post-Crescent/AP
The woman then noticed a powder in the smoothie and went into the shop where she was told that employees did not add any powder to her drink, according to the complaint.
After a search of Patel’s home found an envelope containing the pills, “the defendant indicated that he had it sent to him from a friend in India when he didn’t want to have any more children,” Tempelis said.
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At his sentencing on Tuesday, Patel admitted acquiring the drug and giving it to his pregnant girlfriend — but he contended he did so because another child born to the couple had been diagnosed with a long-term medical condition, according to thePost-Crescent.
“I was convinced my unborn child would suffer the same fate,” he said. “This did not excuse what I did.”
He added: “I have had plenty of time to think about what I did. I have no excuse or explanation for my actions.”
After being charged in the case in 2007, Patel skipped out on a $750,000 bond and became a fugitive until his 2017 arrest in New York. He claimed that he’d left for India to visit his ailing father whom he feared was dying, WLUK reports.
In court Tuesday, he said, “I made the decision to return, even though I knew it would cost me my freedom,” according to thePost-Crescent.
Defense attorney Chadwick Kaehne said Patel didn’t want him to excuse what he’d done but rather asked him to emphasize his client’s fear that a second child with the woman — who later miscarried — might see a repeat of their first son’s medical condition, the newspaper reports.
“He knows what he did was wrong,” Kaehne said, thePost-Crescentreports.
According to thePost-Crescent, Jardins said, “A steep price has to be paid for someone who engages in this type of behavior.”
source: people.com
