An 18-year old expectant mother with health issues will get probation and home confinement as punishment for a theft conviction.

Megan Delawder, 18, of 2702 S. 11th St., Ironton, pleaded guilty Wednesday on a bill of information to taking medication and several household items from a Lawrence County residence June 17.

Her attorney, Warren Morford, told Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Charles Cooper that Delawder is a high-risk maternity patient with two other children, a 16-month-old and a six-month-old, to care for. These issues, he said, make hers an unusual case.

“I think the prosecutor’s office realizes that. I ask that the court also takes this into consideration,” Morford said.

Assistant Lawrence County Prosecutor Mack Anderson said given Delawder’s condition, she is not eligible for treatment at a community based correctional facility.

Cooper ordered Delawder to serve four years community controlled sanctions under intensive supervised probation (CCS/ISP) and six months of electronically monitored home confinement. She must also pay $1,556.26 restitution to her victim, though some of the items that were taken have been returned.

“I think what she is receiving is in best for Megan given her condition and certainly for her unborn child,” Anderson said. “She says she doesn’t have a drug problem and we hope she doesn’t.”

Morford said his client did not have a prior criminal record and did confess to her crime.

Delawder apologized for her actions and told Cooper she knew she had made a mistake.

In another case Wednesday, Jeremy J. Basham, 33, of Jackson, was arraigned on one count each of grand theft and tampering with evidence. He pleaded not guilty through his attorney, Mike Mearan. Cooper allowed a bond set in Ironton Municipal Court to continue and ordered Basham to return to court Aug. 13 for a pretrial conference.

His alleged accomplice, Courtney G. Fisher, 30, of Waverly, was also arraigned on those same charges. He also pleaded not guilty through his attorney, Robert Rosenberg. His bond from municipal court was also transferred and he must return to court the same day as Basham for a pretrial conference.