Provincial Court briefs
Change of plea on trafficking
Nicholas Guthrie, 23, was to stand trial March 17 at Hampton Provincial Court for two counts of trafficking Diluadid, but changed his plea to guilty. Guthrie, now living in Moncton, was charged March 7, 2007 in Saint John and March 14, 2007 in Rothesay.
Crown prosecutor Kelly Winchester said Guthrie was charged along with Scott Barton, who was sentenced a month ago to a year in jail for drug trafficking. She noted Barton had an extensive criminal record while Guthrie had none.
Barton was selling drugs by cell phone and Guthrie was present at both transactions as Barton's driver. Undercover police bought Dilaudid pills from Barton in Saint John and Rothesay, then placed both Barton and Guthrie under arrest.
Duty counsel Brian Ferguson said Guthrie was hanging with the wrong crowd but has since moved to Moncton and now has a job, lives with his sister and is three credits away from completing his Grade 12 diploma.
Judge Henrik Tonning set April 28 for sentencing and requested a pre-sentence report.
Conditional discharge for Nichols
An 18-year-old Hampton resident was spared a jail sentence for his conviction on possession of marijuana for trafficking but will be on probation for three years. Matthew Stephen Nichols was in Hampton Provincial Court March 18 for sentencing on the Oct. 19 charge. Hampton RCMP had set up surveillance on a street corner near Hampton High School in response to complaints about student activities there.
"His own admission was that he had been trafficking in a school setting," said Crown prosecutor Jerry McCracken.
Judge Henrik Tonning pointed out that Nichols wasn't actually selling drugs in the schoolyard but to friends on their way to school.
"He was still doing something wrong we can't lose sight of the setting," he said.
Duty counsel Kathy Grandy said Nichols, well-known as a member of a music group which plays for charities, experienced his celebrity working against him when his offence became public. Nichols told the court he understood the seriousness of the charge and was very sorry.
"You've put us all in a tough spot here today," said Tonning, who had set the sentencing over three weeks to consider the pre-sentence report.
He concluded Nichols had learned his lesson and gave him a conditional discharge with the maximum probation period, three years. Nichols must also complete 50 hours of community service by Sept. 1, report to a probation officer and not associate with individuals identified by the probation officer, abstain from use and possession of non-prescription drugs and contribute to his SafeGrad program. Whether that contribution was to be monetary or with musical talent or service wasn't specified.
Stole from in-laws
In Hampton Provincial Court March 18, Daniel Joseph Chevarie changed his plea to guilty on a theft charge.
The 43-year-old Baines Corner man was charged with using a debit card stolen from his father-in-law to make ATM withdrawals Sept. 4-10 totaling $3,033.
He'd taken the bank card from a wallet his mother-in-law had hidden in the kitchen cabinet, then the bathroom, said Crown prosecutor Kelly Winchester.
When the mother-in-law received her bank statement, she noticed money was missing during the time her husband was in the hospital. Surveillance video from the store with the ATM used showed Chevarie making the withdrawals.
A victim impact statement and pre-sentence report were requested for Chevarie's May 6 sentencing.
Change of plea on charges
Ryan James McDevitt, 19, of Rothesay, was in Hampton Provincial Court March 18 on several charges and changed his plea on three of them.
He pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, breaching a probation order to abstain from alcohol and drugs, and failing to complete 20 hours of court-ordered community service at the Salvation Army in Saint John. A charge of failing to appear for court was withdrawn after it was determined he'd called in with car trouble.
McDevitt was originally charged with trafficking but the Crown agreed to accept a guilty plea on the straight possession charge because of the small quantity of drug involved.
Crown prosecutor Kelly Winchester said Rothesay Regional Police observed McDevitt outside Angelo's Pizza the evening of Jan. 4, smoking a joint and passing it to one of the females with him.
Judge Henrik Tonning accepted the possession plea but noted that technically, smoking a joint and passing it around is considered trafficking. Afterward, RCMP Cst. Pat Cole confirmed a person can be charged with trafficking for passing a joint even if no money changes hands.
Tonning fined McDevitt $200 on each of the three charges. The $600 must be paid by July 22.
Trial date set for Flemings
A trial date of Sept. 29 has been set for Nerepis couple Anna Jeannette Fleming, 55, and George Michael Fleming, 62.
Their lawyer, Danny Watters, was in Hampton Provincial Court March 18 on their behalf to set a date. The Flemings are each charged with unlawful possession of unpackaged tobacco cigarettes, possession of marijuana for trafficking and possession of Dilaudid for trafficking. The charges all stem from a Dec. 1, 2006 search warrant executed at their residence during an RCMP investigation.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges Feb. 19. At that court appearance, both faced additional charges of possession of a prohibited weapon and unsafe storage of a firearm. The firearms charges were withdrawn by the Crown after Watters pointed out that the six-month deadline on those summary conviction charges had expired.
The pair was previously convicted on similar charges. Last year George Fleming was sentenced to a total of 16 months in jail for his May 14 convictions on possession of marijuana and a psychedelic drug for trafficking and a one-month concurrent sentence for having a prohibited weapon.
Anna Fleming was fined just over $5,000 last year for having an illegal quantity of cigarettes and unmarked tobacco, and manufacturing tobacco products without a licence.
Sentencing set over
Sentencing for Nevin Rodney Mullin, 43, of Rothesay has been set over until May 20. He appeared in Hampton Provincial Court March 18.
In an earlier appearance he pleaded guilty to impaired driving and assault with a weapon.
The charges stem from a Jan. 5 incident on the Gautreau Road near French Village. He'd agreed to plow a neighbourhood road despite the fact he'd been drinking. He went off the road but when people came to help dig out his truck, he used a shovel to push one of them away and ran off.
He was arrested soon afterward by police and charged with impaired driving and assault with a weapon.
Defence lawyer David Lutz said Mullin's Section 255 application, for curative treatment for alcohol issues, was successful.
Mullins, who had several driving convictions on his record, completed his seven-day assessment and was ready for the 28-day program, Lutz said.
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I'm not inviting a drug debate, rather enlightening some views to a priority of concerns and issues.
Remember, it is your money that pays for the care and the essentials that these law-breakers require while locked-up.
Drunk driving, sexual abuse, violence, child abuse, prostitution, theft and vandalism, and yes, Drugs are all amoungst the main stream of 'The Courts', each case holding it's own 'priorities'. As per the issues involving marijuana, let's save 'pen time' for those pushing Street level Diladid, crack, cocaine, exctasy.