Tuesday night, Angelina Ramirez walked out of jail on probation. She says, a cup of coffee put her there - and nearly ruined her life.
10News spoke with Ramirez, who says she unknowingly drank meth-laced coffee at North County Serenity House, where she was enrolled in a substance abuse treatment program.
"I'm glad that I'm outta there," Ramirez said. "I don't believe this is Serenity's fault. I mean whoever did it, is pretty messed up for them to do it."
The Escondido rehab kicked her out and sent her to jail after she tested positive for meth, a violation of her probation. That violation carries a possible five-year prison sentence.
Tuesday afternoon, a judge dismissed her case.
This comes after a 10News investigation several weeks after Ramirez was kicked out of the facility. The investigation revealed that coffee or milk at Serenity House was possibly spiked with meth. Six women got sick. One is pregnant.
Related: Pregnantwoman givenmeth-laced coffee at Escondido treatment facility
Ramirez claims the same thing happened to her just weeks before.
"This may not have been (Serenity's) fault but they should have stood up for us or had our back or something," she said.
Why would someone lace the coffee with meth? Ramirez has an idea.
"Maybe if somebody was using or maybe somebody wanted to get even on somebody else," she said. "I heard before I was even there that a girl put it in somebody's food so she would come up positive to get kicked out."
Now that she's out of jail, Ramirez hopes to complete the program and get her three children back.
"I believe I would have graduated if this didn't happen," she said.
10News contacted North County Serenity House to learn more about the investigation into the laced coffee. Managing Director of San Diego County, Shaina K. Zura, wrote this response:
"North County Serenity House is continuing to cooperate with the Escondido Police Department’s investigation of this incident. Based on what we know, there are no indications that this has happened before. Due to federal regulations (HIPAA and 42 CFR part 2), we are prohibited from commenting on cases related to current or former residents.
We contacted the police well before 10News reached us on Monday. Police were on-site Monday morning (March 6) and began their investigation right away. The police report was filed after the police had conducted their initial fact-gathering. The time at which the police report was filed does not reflect the time we originally contacted the police department.
We have implemented additional measures that go beyond the industry standard and best practices for food handling including increased supervision of our food supply at all times. On Tuesday, March 7, the San Diego County Department of Health conducted an unannounced site-visit and inspection and have not requested major corrective actions.
This incident is unprecedented in the history of our organization. We continue to serve our mission of cultivating a safe, private and compassionate environment for women in recovery. We are in constant communication with our residents, all of whom are at North County Serenity House voluntarily. Women continue to seek care from North County Serenity House as they have for 50 years, and no residents have left our program as a result of this incident."
