COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio day care worker has pleaded not guilty to charges she sprinkled drugs on snacks to get children she was watching to sleep during the day.

Tammy Eppley of Westerville in suburban Columbus is charged with six counts of child endangering.

An attorney for Eppley filed the plea in Franklin County Municipal Court Thursday, a day before Eppley had been scheduled for her first court appearance.

Eppley was charged last month after police say they obtained text messages in which she acknowledged giving children the allergy drug Benadryl and Melatonin, a hormone and sleep aid.

The 37-year-old Eppley has denied the allegations, saying she made "tongue-in-cheek" jokes about giving the drugs in text messages to a friend.