Methadone Baby Sold to Drug Dealers (For Drugs)

An Indiana couple, Brandon and Anne Marie Riggs, deny that they gave their then 4-month-old son to a drug-dealing husband and wife in exchange for $13,000 in cash, a used Lincoln car, and fifty OxyContin tablets, as well as Xanax, methadone and morphine sulfate. Brandon, who is currently in prison on unrelated drug charges, and Anne Marie were trying to cope with a baby born addicted to methadone back in October 2009. The couple apparently gave their son, Brandon, Jr., to two accused drug dealers, Stephen and Melissa Lynch, and only tried to make the adoption official months later. Brandon Riggs wrote from prison that, “At the time, we were in no way capable of caring for a newborn, let alone a newborn with medical complications.” He called the Lynches “good people, good parents.” Nonetheless, San Diego authorities arrested 26-year-old Anna Marie on October 13th, and court documents show that she admitted to receiving the money and drugs in exchange for the child. The boy, who is now two years old, has been taken into protective care.