Mother Who Used Girl, 13, to Peddle Drugs Gets 5 Years

A Panorama City woman convicted of using her daughter and a nephew to sell rock cocaine near an elementary school was sentenced in federal court Monday to 5 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

U.S. District Judge Harry L. Hupp could have sentenced Terris Ann Paige, 34, to consecutive terms totaling 280 years. Instead, the judge sentenced her to concurrent 5-year terms on each of six charges.

Paige was convicted Aug. 23 of four counts of selling cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school and of two counts of using minors to distribute the drug. The offenses took place in April and May, authorities said.

Three of the drug deals occurred at Paige’s apartment, across the street from Liggett Street Elementary School, authorities said. The fourth took place on a street near the school.

Paige’s 15-year-old nephew handled one of the transactions, and her 13-year-old daughter participated in another, prosecutors said.

The law required that Paige be sentenced to 5 years without parole because of the quantity of cocaine she was convicted of selling.

In one transaction, Paige sold 9.6 grams of cocaine, authorities said. The law requires the mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years when a defendant is convicted of selling more than 5 grams.

Paige had no prior drug convictions, a factor that probably worked in her favor at the sentencing, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jean A. Kawahara said.