Misty Cummings Pleads To Drug Charges
Missing Haleigh Cummings' Former Stepmother Likely Faces 25 Years In Prison
Misty Cummings, the 18-year-old who was the last person to see Haleigh Cummings before she disappeared in February 2009, pleaded no contest Monday morning to drug trafficking charges.
Misty, Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, Misty's brother, Hank Croslin Jr., and two others were arrested in January in an undercover sting and charged with selling prescription drugs.
Prosecutors have released surveillance videos they said shows undercover drug deals involving Misty and Ronald Cummings.
Misty's attorney, Robert Fields, told the judge a "landslide of evidence" against Cummings, including the undercover video, led to her no contest plea.
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Ronald Cummings is nearing a plea agreement, and Hank Croslin has already pleaded no contest to similar charges and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Channel 4 was told Misty could face about 200 years in prison on the seven counts of drug trafficking, but as a youthful offender, her sentence will more likely range from six to 25 years, lawyers said. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 19.
Misty faces one more drug trafficking charge in St. Johns County. Prosecutors said she can only qualify as a youthful offender once and so could still face up to 25 years on the charge in St. Johns County, where she is expected to enter another no contest plea Tuesday morning.
Authorities have maintained that the drug charges have no connection to the ongoing investigation of Haleigh's disappearance, which they now consider a homicide case.
Haleigh was 5 years old when she vanished from her home in Satsuma, in southern Putnam County. Misty, who was Ronald's girlfriend when Haleigh disappeared, married and divorced him within six months.
Misty's grandmother, Flora Hollars, who lives in Tennessee, said she thinks as long as she and her brother, Hank, are in jail, they won't tell what they know about Haleigh.
"I believe they'll do more talking out of jail," Hollars said in a phone interview Monday. "Look at how long it's been. They ain't said nothing."
Misty and Hank's mom and dad were also recently arrested and are in jail on drug charges. Hollars said with the entire family in jail, the chances of them talking are slim to none.
"I don't think they'll say anything as long as they're in jail," Hollars said. "If they were out, they might talk."
Hollars said she still believes Haleigh's body was dumped into the St. Johns River, and in her opinion, everyone in the Croslin family knows more than what they've admitted to.
"Misty is the one that told me they wrapped her in a bag and tied it with a yellow rope and dropped her into the St. Johns River," Hollars said.
Even with little to no physical evidence, deputies are treating Haleigh's disappearance as a homicide, and they're likely hoping that one of the Croslins will eventually crack while in jail.
"I think Ronald knows more than he's saying, too," Hollars said.
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