Plea allows ex-YPD cop to enter mental health court for neglect of sister

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A former city police officer entered into the Mental Health Court on Thursday after she pleaded guilty for failing to care for an ailing sister.

Barbara Copeland, 60, entered a guilty plea before Judge Maureen Sweeney in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to the felony charge of failure to provide care for a functionally impaired person.

The Mental Health Court is a program designed to work with felony criminal defendants with mental-health issues who, as a result of their illness, come in contact with the justice system. Participants in the court go through a two-year program instead of jail time.

If defendants complete the court, the charge against them is dismissed.

A grand jury indictment issued Sept. 29 says Copeland recklessly failed to provide treatment and care necessary to maintain the health or safety of her 67-year-old sister, Mary Louise Fields, resulting in serious physical harm to Fields.

The indictment says the offense occurred on or about Oct. 15, 2015, which the coroner’s report says was the date of Fields’ death.

The coroner’s office ruled Fields’ death natural, listing a stroke as the cause of death, with malnutrition, dehydration and mental illness as contributing factors.

Fields weighed only 70 pounds when she died, the coroner’s report said.

Copeland resigned from the force in November 2015 after 151/2 years on the job. She resigned before an internal affairs investigation could be done into her conduct.

Detectives assigned to the case presented their findings to prosecutors, who then decided to indict her on a direct presentment to the grand jury.

Copeland has been free on her own recognizance since she was indicted.

The charge carries a maximum 18-month prison term.