Pamela Sleezer

A former Beauregard Parish school bus driver pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of transporting students to school while under the influence of a sleep aid, according to court documents.

Tammie Gibson, 61, entered a nolo contendere, or Alford, plea to the first offense charges of driving while under the influence of a schedule IV controlled substance and child endangerment. She submitted her plea before Judge C. Kerry Anderson Wednesday morning, the day her trial proceedings were set to begin.

The Alford plea allows a defendant to plead guilty, through permission of the court, when it is their best interest and without having to directly admit to the crime. The conviction remains the same.  Based upon the guilty plea agreement, Gibson will serve two years on probational release with six months to be served on house arrest. The mandatory minimum 10 days in jail for child endangerment was waived per the agreement, according to court documents.

Gibson was also ordered to pay court fees and for any damage to the school bus that she was driving or any other damages incurred during the incident, and will perform 32 hours of court-approved community service.

District Attorney James Lestage said that he hopes the conviction serves as a valuable learning lesson for the public in regards to safely taking prescribed medications. 

“I am glad we were able to have this case resolved in a way that addresses the criminal action and brings awareness to the public regarding the medications they are prescribed. I encourage anyone who is prescribed a controlled substance to discuss the medication and possible side effects with medical professionals and pharmacological professionals. I further encourage those people to read all warning labels regarding the medication and not to operate a motor vehicle while taking the prescribed medications,” Lestage stated.

Gibson was arrested Aug. 27, 2019 by DeRidder Police after authorities said they received numerous complaints about Gibson’s driving on her route that morning, including 9-1-1 calls from students on Gibson’s bus who reported their bus driver was swerving, driving into ditches and running stop signs.

Gibson’s bus was located at a DeRidder school at 7:16 a.m. where she was taken into custody. Gibson consented to and passed an alcohol test at the scene, but subsequent blood toxicology tests later revealed that she was under the influence of a generic version of the prescription sleep aid Ambien.

Gibson has maintained that she was not provided with any warnings regarding the risks of taking the sleep aid when it was prescribed to her, and that there were no warnings on the medication label.

Tammy Gibson