Relative of Haleigh Cummings pleads in drug case | jacksonville.com

Relative of Haleigh Cummings pleads in drug case | jacksonville.com

New court dates set for missing girl's father, former stepmother

By Dana Treen

PALATKA — A cousin of missing Haleigh Cummings' father will be sentenced in late April after pleading no contest to a drug trafficking charge in Putnam County this morning.

Hope Sykes made the plea in court hearings that also set new court dates for Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, and former stepmother, Misty Croslin.

Sykes, 19, could face 15 years in prison, although her age may provide some leeway in the sentencing. The prosecutor in her case said she has not made any arrangements for Sykes to testify in the cases involving Cummings or Croslin, who each face multiple trafficking charges.

Sykes is scheduled to be sentenced April 27.

All three were captured on surveillence cameras in an undercover drug operation. Sykes' charge is connected to one of the recordings. She was in an undercover officer's car with Cummings and Croslin.

Cummings, 25, whose daughter was reported missing on Feb. 10, 2009, from home in Satsuma by Croslin, is set for a second pre-trial hearing May 13. Crosilin, 18, has her next pre-trial hearing is June 3 in Palatka.

Croslin's brother, Hank Croslin Jr., is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. pre-trial today in the Putnam court.