Former Drexel student gets 45 days in prison for son's birth, death

MIA SARDELLA, the former Drexel University student originally charged with first-degree murder after Delaware County authorities found her baby's corpse in her car trunk, was sentenced yesterday to 45 days in prison - to be served on weekends.

There were few dry eyes in the courtroom as Sardella's supporters, who packed both sides of the aisle, listened to her relatives and a friend defend the 20-year-old Drexel Hill woman as "kind and understanding," a "terrific young lady," a "responsible adult" and "one of the sweetest girls I've met."

Appearing fragile and on the verge of tears as she approached Judge Patricia Jenkins, Sardella sobbed - uncontrollably at times - throughout the proceeding.

"There has not been a day since January 2007 that I have not thought about my son," Sardella said, in her first public remarks since her mother, Stephanie Leone, found the baby's decomposing body in the Volkswagen Beetle two years ago.

"I will never get over the loss of my child, nor will I ever forgive myself for what I did," she said.

Police say Sardella gave birth over a basement toilet on New Year's Day 2007, then placed the infant in a duffel bag in her trunk, where the corpse remained for three weeks.

"None of us knew that Mia was pregnant," Leone said.

Sardella was charged with first-degree murder in May 2007, after county Medical Examiner Dr. Fredric Hellman ruled that the baby had been born alive, if even for a minute. He said the cause of death was asphyxiation.

Five months later, prosecutors downgraded the charge to third-degree murder after they consulted with medical experts and found "insufficient evidence" to support the more serious charge. Last month, they dropped third-degree murder when Sardella agreed to plead no-contest to involuntary manslaughter, concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse.

She will serve her 45-day prison sentence over 21 weekends, starting next week, followed by about 16 weeks on electronic home-monitoring, according to defense attorney Arthur Donato, who had requested a probationary sentence.

Jenkins also ordered that Sardella participate in counseling and perform community service through Project Cuddle, a nonprofit agency that seeks to reduce cases of baby-abandonment and neonaticide.

"One of the things that Mia always wanted to do was to take whatever steps she could to help out other young girls who find themselves in similar situations," Donato said.

If the case had gone to trial, it likely would have hinged on conflicting medical evidence presented by Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino and Sardella's attorneys. The defense had compiled reports from doctors - including New York City's former chief medical examiner - stating that the child either had been stillborn or had suffered from placental disorders that would have rendered him unresponsive upon birth.

Galantino said he could "still prove that this child was born alive and that he died as a result of asphyxiation," but Donato argued that there was a "powerful medical defense" to the charges.

"Our experts were unquestionably better than theirs," Donato said. "The science that was used by our experts was unquestionably better than theirs."

In the courtroom, Leone conceded that her daughter had made a "serious mistake" but said the "public hostility" she has experienced was unwarranted.

"She's not the monster that she's portrayed to be," said Anthony DeVice, Sar-della's cousin.

The case was tinged with allegations of favoritism, particularly after Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood Sr. implied that prosecutors would have filed charges sooner if Sardella had come from a different "socioeconomic background." She is the granddaughter of Albert Piscopo, chief executive of the Glenmede Trust Co.

Attorneys on both sides of the case strongly denied that assertion yesterday.