The Iowa Court of Appeals says a Des Moines County woman who bought too much pseudoephedrine won’t get a deferred judgment. Ahsley Ringold pled guilty to exceeding the 30-day limit for buying medication containing pseudoephedrine. The legislature put limits on the purchase of pseudoephedrine because it is one of the key ingredients in making the illegal drug methamphetamine.
Ringold testified that she bought the cold medication for multiple people including her aunt, grandmother and boyfriend. She asked for a deferred judgment which could allow the crime to be eventually be removed from her record. The district court judge said it was a “very serious crime” because of the nature of what pseudoephedrine is used for and denied the deferred judgment.
Ringold appealed, saying there was no indication that she had any intent to make methamphetamine and the district court simply has a blanket policy of denying deferred judgments in such cases without considering individual circumstances. The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the district court, saying the judge’s comments on the potential seriousness of the crime did not lead them to the conclusion the court had a blanket policy regarding pseudoephedrine cases.
The Appeals Court said there is no evidence that this court had previously sentenced anyone for this offense or a related offense.