Palin daughter's fiance's mother arrested for drugs

LOS ANGELES, (AFP)

The 42-year-old mother of the fiance of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's pregnant daugther, Bristol, was arrested in a drug bust at her home and charged with six felony counts, the Alaska police said Friday.

Sherry Johnston's 18-year-old son Levi is betrothed to Bristol Palin, who made the headlines in September when her mother, then a vice presidential candidate, announced that she was pregnant with Levi Johnston's child and that the couple planned to marry.

According to a police report, Johnston was arrested Thursday after her home in Wasilla, Alaska, was searched by Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement Investigators, "at the conclusion of an undercover narcotics investigation."

She was charged with six counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance and released on 5,000 dollars bail, the Anchorage Daily News said.

Police provided no details of the offenses, but the newspaper said three charges involved manufacturing or delivering drugs and three had to do with posession of drugs.

Governor Palin, a former Wasilla mayor, was picked by Republican John McCain as his running mate for the November 4 presidential election he eventually lost against Democrat Barack Obama, now president-elect.

The revelation of her daughter's pregnancy sent shockwaves across the country and raised questioned about Palin's viability as a top government official days before the Republican Party held its National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Ultra conservative and close to fundamentalist Christians, Palin is a strong opponent of the right to abortion and has said she favors sexual abstinence before marriage.

The Anchorage Daily News, citing a recent interview with Palin's father, said Bristol Palin, 18, is due on Saturday.