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Marie says she never sold drugs to an undercover state trooper. Still, Marie says she eventually pleaded guilty on the advice of her family and legal counsel.

Marie says the assistant prosecutor originally tried to get her to set up an ex-boyfriend—not Richie, the with whom she was arrested. Marie says she refused. "He screamed at me for a while. It went on and on, and he said, 'Okay, if you plead guilty, we'll give you probation,'" she says.

According to the court transcript, the judge asked Susan six times if she was sure she wanted to plead guilty, after telling her four times that there could be a maximum sentence of 20 years. Susan still pleaded guilty, and the judge sentenced her to 10 to 20 years in prison—not probation.

The defense attorney and prosecutor on the case were contacted by The Oprah Show. Both say no probation was ever promised.

In a statement, Marie's defense attorney, Nick Trogan, says: "It was a surprise to everyone that Susan got 10 to 20 years. There were never any promises made to her about probation. That simply is not true. Nobody knew she was going to get 10 to 20 years. The only one who knew was the judge."

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