National City
A mother who stole her cocaine-addicted newborn baby from a hospital was sentenced Wednesday to one year in a drug-rehabilitation program.
A suspended three-year state prison term was also handed down to Renita Smith, 26, by San Diego Superior Court Judge Bernard Revak.
Smith pleaded guilty last month to stealing her 9-day-old baby, Angelica Smith, from Paradise Valley Hospital in National City on July 15 after the baby had been taken from her.
Revak ordered that Smith be sentenced to one year in custody, with the recommendation that she be placed at Kiva House in Lakeside, a drug-rehabilitation program for women offenders. The judge warned her that she risks going to prison if she disappears from Kiva House or fails to comply with its rules.
Smith must submit to drug testing under terms of her five-year probation. She was given credit for 187 days previously spent in jail including time off for good behavior.
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