Son was her fourth child to die.

By STAN MADDUX
Tribune Correspondent

A Michigan City woman has been sentenced to prison for the fatal drug overdose of her 17-month-old son.

Authorities aren't saying, though, if the conviction will trigger a closer look at the deaths of three of her other children in a fire.

No ruling was ever made into the cause of that blaze and no charges ever resulted.

"Any case where somebody dies from a suspicious means is always an open case," said LaPorte County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Atley Price. "Law enforcement should never be commenting on a case that remains open."

Julie White, 32, pleaded guilty Thursday to Class A felony neglect of a dependent.

She received a 20-year prison sentence to be followed by 10 years probation.

White could have received up to 50 years in prison, but terms of her plea capped her jail time at 20 years.

Her time on probation, though, was left up to the court to decide.

A lack of a prior criminal record and mental issues were among the mitigating factors cited that worked in her favor at sentencing.

Price had asked for a 20-year prison sentence plus another 20 years of probation.

"This is a woman who needs strict, close supervision even when she gets out of prison," Price said.

The investigation shows White was taking methadone to alleviate the withdrawals from a prescription drug dependency during her pregnancy.

The child was born addicted and treated by a doctor with Phenobarbital for withdrawals.

But White said the boy was still having withdrawals so she followed the advice of a friend in calming the child with methadone.

She gave the boy methadone for over a year without a doctor's supervision, but in June of 2007 she found the toddler unresponsive in his crib.

Murder charges were never pursued because there was no proof White ever intended to kill the child.

"It clearly was not an intentional act," said defense attorney Craig Braje.

In 2004, White had three other children ranging from 7 months to 2 years old who perished in a house fire.

According to authorities, White jumped from a second-floor window, leaving the children in the home.

Like any criminal matter that's not solved, Price said, that case remains open, but he would not be more specific.

White has at least one other surviving child and testified in court that's she pregnant.

She posted $10,000 cash bond after her arrest for the overdose death.

In December of 2009, she was ordered held without bond when arrested on two counts of forgery, cases that are still pending in court.

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