Evann Gastaldo

Newser Staff

(NEWSER) – Lori Sullenberger allegedly wasn't going to let anything get in the way of her drug dealing — not even a stay in intensive care.

Police say the 38-year-old Pennsylvania woman went into the hospital April 14 for an unrelated medical problem, and hospital staff noticed, as a hospital spokesperson puts it, "an exorbitant amount of foot traffic happening to a patient's room. Not patients coming to stay two hours, but patients coming to stay two minutes."

Sullenberger's multiple cellphones also rang constantly, and her visitors didn't know her last name. Police were called, and they sent in a confidential informant who, they say, bought 30 bags of heroin from Sullenberger.

A search of her, her purse, and the drawers in her hospital room then allegedly turned up 380 bags of heroin, worth about $3,800 on the street, and $1,420 in cash, WTAE reports.

And, even crazier, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Sullenberger admitted to injecting heroin into her hospital IV line.

Sullenberger, who was still in the hospital as of yesterday, was charged yesterday with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts; her boyfriend and another man, both of whom said they bought or possessed drugs from Sullenberger, were hit with misdemeanor possession charges.

"Definitely is one of the more unique cases," the police captain.

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