DENVER -- A woman accused of giving birth in the bathroom of a North Cherry Creek sports bar in 2004 and leaving the baby to die pleaded guilty Wednesday in connection with the case. Erin Pendleton, 31, pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death.

She will face up to 40 years in prison when she is sentenced on Feb. 28.

The body of the full-term newborn boy was found in the women's restroom of Legends Bar and Grill by a janitor on June 26, 2004. The newborn was stuffed in a plastic bag, at the bottom of the trash bin, covered in a layer of trash, according to the arrest affidavit.

Pendleton had been at the bar the previous night and had given birth in a bathroom stall.

According to the arrest affidavit, Pendleton continued bar-hopping with her friends after she had delivered.

Two friends who were with Pendleton told police that she left their table for about 90 minutes and was later found in the women's restroom clutching a vest around her waist. She told her friends that she had passed a kidney stone and was bleeding.

The women then left the bar and went to the home of one of the friends, where Pendleton borrowed some clothes to replace her bloody outfit. After changing, she left with her friends for another bar, where they continued drinking, the affidavit said.

Detectives were able to locate Pendleton by tracing a credit card receipt used in the bar after a waiter described a woman "layered in clothing and acting ill."

The Denver coroner said the infant was born alive but died of asphyxiation.