The mother of Levi Johnston, the 18-year-old boyfriend of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's teenage daughter, has been arrested on drug charges, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.
Sherry L. Johnston was arrested Thursday after troopers served a search warrant on a Wasilla home. The 42-year-old Johnston has been charged with six felony drug counts.
Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said late Friday in a news release that the charges were in connection with the drug OxyContin, a strong prescription painkiller.
Levi Johnston entered the national spotlight this autumn when it was revealed that 18-year-old Bristol Palin — the eldest daughter of Sarah Palin, who had just been tapped as then-Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate — was pregnant with his child.
The baby is due Saturday, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The paper said that Alaska State Troopers charged Sherry Johnston with second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and fourth-degree misconduct involving controlled substances, or possession.
Johnston was released from jail in Palmer on $5,000 bail. She was not scheduled to be immediately arraigned.
Peters said no one else had been charged. Few details could be released Friday because the investigation was ongoing, she said.
Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said information on the case had not yet been forwarded to his office.
Contacted by the Anchorage Daily News, Palin's spokesman, Bill McAllister, issued this statement: "This is not a state government matter. Therefore the governor's communications staff will not be providing comment or scheduling interview opportunities."
