Mother of slain Bullhead City girl gets prison time for selling drugs

A Bullhead City woman is going to prison for selling methamphetamine to a confidential informant roughly six weeks after her daughter was slain last fall.

Tania Grogan, 30, pleaded guilty to sale of dangerous drugs Thursday, entering an agreement that dismisses conspiracy and drug paraphernalia counts.

Terms of the plea deal require imposition of no more than ten years in prison, though Mohave County Superior Court Judge Billy Sipe told Grogan she is all but guaranteed that he will adopt the prosecution recommendation to send her to prison for five years. Grogan's husband and her mother-in-law have already been sentenced for their drug dealing involvement following the September 2014 asphyxiation of 8-year-old Isabella "Bella" Grogan-Cannella.

Ralph Folster, 29, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a higher level of drug dealing activity from the same home from which Bella went missing. Folster's mother, Freddie Nicholson, 60, was placed on probation, given that her involvement was characterized as greeting people and letting them into the home knowing they would buy drugs there.

Grogan's friend Justin Rector, 27, faces a possible death sentence if convicted of Bella's murder. Police have said that Rector was the last adult seen with Bella and that his footprints were found at the gravesite from which her body was recovered about a half mile from her home.

Grogan was released from jail on maternity leave before giving birth on May 28. Defense attorney Brad Rideout said the newborn and a sibling are in care of family members.