The man accused of giving his former girlfriend a pill intended to cause an abortion will spend the next several years in prison.
John Andrew Welden accepted a plea deal last September. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 13 years and eight months in prison, as had been laid out in the terms of his plea agreement.
Welden, 29, was accused of giving Cytotec to Remee Jo Lee, 27, causing her to miscarry when she was seven weeks pregnant.
As a result of the plea deal, Welden pleaded guilty to product tampering and mail fraud. He is accused of forging the signature of his father, a gynecologist in Lutz, to get the Cytotec. Authorities said he told his girlfriend it was an antibiotic.
Both sides said they're okay with the sentence.
"It is what is. He has been sentenced and he will move on and he will turn himself in as directed,” said Todd Foster, Welden's attorney.
"I'm satisfied with it. It was good. The whole family is satisfied with it. No complaints," said Bobby Lee, grandad of Lee.
Remee Jo Lee left the courthouse holding an ultrasound picture of her unborn child she named Memphis.
During sentencing, Lee showed the judge the photo and said "[Welden] he took away the most precious thing I ever had." She said "this isn't just a case to me. This is the death of my child."
Then Remi stood and stared at Welden as he apologized during his statement.
"I’m sorry," Welden said. "What I've done will stay with me for the rest of my life. It's because of my selfish actions we're here and this all happened."
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara questioned whether one Cytotec pill alone could have caused the miscarriage. Lazzara ultimately agreed with prosecutors that it did.
Welden has remained free on bond. He will turn himself into the U.S. Marshals on Wednesday morning.