Man gets prison for video of kids smoking pot

updated 2:48 p.m. ET Dec. 2, 2008

FORT WORTH, Texas - One of two men videotaped coaxing two toddlers into smoking marijuana pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was sentenced Tuesday to up to seven years in prison.

Vanswan Polty pleaded guilty to two charges of causing injury to a child and three unrelated burglary charges before his trial began. He had faced from five years to life in prison if convicted of the charge he had faced, engaging in criminal activity.

"It's a sad case from any angle that you look at it," prosecutor Darrell Davila told The Associated Press. "Now that the case has been resolved, justice has been served and the children can move into a better life."

Polty's attorney, Timmie White, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

Polty, 20, and Demetris McCoy, 18, were videotaped McCoy's then 2- and 4-year-old nephews smoking marijuana. Police found the tape while searching a house during a burglary investigation in 2007. Drug tests performed on the youngsters revealed they had marijuana and cocaine in their systems.

The children, now 4 and 6, are being adopted by another family after their mother terminated her parental rights late last year, said Marissa Gonzales, a Child Protective Services spokeswoman. Gonzales, who was not charged, said she was asleep in another room when the videotape was made.

McCoy was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to injury to a child and burglary charges this summer and had agreed to testify against Polty. Davila said he could not comment on the juvenile who videotaped the incident but said his case had been resolved.

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