Make wishtv.com your home page

Woman faces up to 70 years in prison for neglect of newborn

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – A northern Indiana woman convicted of felony neglect of a dependent and feticide after taking drugs from China to end a pregnancy is facing up to 70 years in prison.

Thirty-three-year-old Purvi Patel of Granger is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in South Bend by St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hurley. Patel was found guilty in February of neglect of a baby whose body was found on July 14, 2013, in a trash bin behind a restaurant in Mishawaka that her family owns.

Patel faces 20 to 50 years in prison for neglect of a dependent and six to 20 years in prison for feticide.

Patel told doctors the baby was stillborn, but a pathologist testifying for the state said the infant was born alive.