Nunu Sung so desperately wants to get back the child she abandoned in a neighbor’s yard after secretly giving birth last year that she agreed to serve the maximum, three-year prison term for the offense, her attorney said Friday.
As part of a plea deal with DuPage County prosecutors, Sung — a refugee from Myanmar, formerly Burma — received the sentence after pleading guilty to felony obstruction of justice for lying about giving birth to the infant on June 12, 2009.
“She’s taking a very difficult sentence for her to both stay here and eventually reunite with her child,” said DuPage County Public Defender Jeff York.
For their part, prosecutors agreed not to seek to terminate her parental rights to the now 16-month-old child, whom hospital workers named “Joshua” while he was in their care.
The petite, dark-haired Sung, now 25, wept softly throughout the hearing, then was immediately taken into custody after Judge Blanche Fawell imposed the prison term.
Sung, who was free on bond, had been seeing her son weekly in supervised visits since August 2009. He remains in foster care under the supervision of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Sung understands that she erred in abandoning the baby and agreed to the prison term in hopes it will enable her to ultimately keep her child and her residency in the U.S.
“Trying to get her kid back was her first priority, staying here was her second priority — and her own welfare was her last concern,” York said.
Sung likely will serve more than a year behind bars before being paroled. York said it wasn’t immediately clear if she would be allowed to see her son while she is locked up.
Speaking through a translator, Sung quietly answered “guilty” when asked by the judge to enter a plea during the hearing. She repeatedly dabbed tears from her eyes after the judge handed her a box of tissues early in the sentencing.
Sung fled the unstable, southeast Asian country more than four years ago, then became pregnant while living in Texas, authorities said. She moved to Wheaton in February 2009 to live with a cousin and the cousin's husband, though she hid her pregnancy from them, officials have said.
Sung left her apartment several hours before giving birth, telling her relatives she was going for a walk. They contacted police early on June 12, 2009 to report Sung hadn’t returned home, though officers later found Sung in the apartment.
While she was being questioned by police, a neighbor discovered Sung’s naked, newborn infant — part of the umbilical cord still attached — crying softly under bushes at the edge of his property.
Sung initially denied, but then ultimately admitted giving birth to the youngster, who suffered no serious medical problems despite being abandoned for several hours.
