Today Ted went to court. Both the judge and the state attorney had already read the article in the St. Pete Times about the Teen in Jail blog (that appeared in the Sunday, September 6th issue) by the time he appeared in the courtroom.
Ted's trafficking charge has been changed to a lesser charge of sales and possession because the pills that he was arranging to be sold didn't contain enough MDMA (Ecstasy) to constitute trafficking, according to the forensic analysis.
Ted's attorney asked the judge if Ted's sentence could be reduced to 12 months with time served.
The state attorney reiterated that Ted had been getting into trouble for seven years - including burglary, grand theft, and numerous drug charges. In fact, he said, Ted had appeared in court and had just been put on probation when he was arrested three days later for his current charge. The court doesn't take violation of probation lightly.
The state offered Ted a deal of two years in prison.
Ted's attorney tried three times to get the sentence reduced, including asking that he be sent to Solid Rock, a drug rehab in St. Petersburg. Finally she asked for only 18 months prison time.
The judge said that while she could appreciate what Ted was trying to do with his writing, she had to go by his past record, not by his promises to do better.
Actions speak louder than words.
She recommended that he take the state's deal, as it was extremely generous. Ted has accumulated enough points to go to at least 3½ years in prison. If he decided to go to a jury trial, his charges carried a maximum sentence of 30 years prison time.
A jury might not be so lenient.
Since Ted didn't have an immediate answer and wanted to think about it, the judge set a new court date for Monday, September 14th at 8:30 a.m. He will have to tell her if he will take the two years in prison or take his chances at a trial.
Hi TEd,
ReplyDeleteread the outcome of your hearing today; Its almost a decision between 2yrs or possibly 30; Personally i wouldnt want to gamble on that one; I believe most jurys would be non- sympathetic to the case considering all the prior convictions; Hope you make the best decision with this and that it works out for your best,
God Bless,
doug
Hi Teddy,
ReplyDeleteI read about court also. It is going to be a tough decision on your part no matter what. 2 years or 30. I think I would take the 2, look how long you have been in jail. You have the support of your family and friends more then you know. Keep writing and you will have a future after this is over, take some courses.
Love, Dottie