Meth Teacher Gets Probation

(Grand Junction, Colorado) Tammie Liberty Lee (formerly Tammie Lee Reed) has been sentenced.

Mesa County District Judge Thomas Deister sentenced Reed, 42, to four years on probation, 21 months of work release, 100 hours of community service and mandatory drug treatment.

The sentence was handed down as part of a plea agreement that dismissed two of Reed's four criminal cases in exchange for two guilty pleas in cases involving possession of more than 1 gram of meth and theft from a check-cashing business.

Deister also granted Reed permission to leave the state to attend her daughter’s wedding next month before she must surrender her driver’s license.

I'm at a loss for words. Obviously, Tammie Liberty Lee (formerly Tammie Lee Reed) is coated with Teflon.

From previous entry - 05/15/07:

The story of former first-grade teacher Tammie Liberty Lee (formerly Tammie Lee Reed) has become ridiculous. Two days after she appeared in court last month and pleaded guilty to drug and check fraud charges, Tammie Liberty Lee failed a drug test. Two freakin' days! So, she was arrested ... again.

Forty-two-year-old Lee has been arrested five times in the last 19 months for methamphetamine possession and various other charges. It appears that all she does is go into jail, gets bailed out and then, apparently immediately, goes and gets more methamphetamine.

All the while, it seems the law enforcement community and prosecuting attorneys explore every conceivable way to avoid punishing her. Time and again, words of probation and treatment and supervision are uttered, but not prison. It's exasperating follow the story.

On Sunday, Lee was arrested on a warrant issued after her failed drug test and today she appeared in court. Judge Richard Gurley set bond at $20,000 and recommended a drug treatment program be included in her sentence.

It's unclear what's going to happen next. Possibly, Lee's plea agreement will be voided because of the new charge. If the plea agreement holds, however, a ruling in expected on June 18th.

And the ruling is -- probation.


[Update 06/30/07]

There should be little surprise here. Less than two weeks after her sentencing, Tammie Lee Reed (Liberty Lee) is arrested again.

Tammie Lee Reed, 42, was arrested Friday afternoon after investigators discovered she lied during her June 18 sentencing hearing to obtain a permit to leave Colorado before reporting for work release, according to court records. She could face charges of attempting to influence a public servant and violating bail-bond conditions, both of which are felonies.

According to a warrant affidavit, Reed's statement that she needed to leave Colorado from July 2 to July 11 for her daughter's wedding in Reno, Nev., could not be true, because her daughter is not scheduled to marry anyone.

Of course, this eventuality will allow the authorities to administer yet another hand-slap. Stay tuned.


[Update 04/10/08]

Reed convicted again. Sentencing in May.