A man with a long criminal record of drug dealing was arrested and arraigned in New Haven. When the police found him, he was asleep in a car on the side of the road, with the engine running. He had a gun in his lap. When they got him out, they found a large quantity of drugs in the vehicle.
These were the charges:
14-12(a)* OPERATE/PARKS UNREGISTRD MV
14-147(c) IMPROPER USE-MARKER/LIC/RGSTR
14-213b ILL OPN MV WO MINIMUM INSURNCE
14-251(a) IMP PRKG-HYDRANT/CURB REQS
14-36(a) OPERATE MV WITHOUT LICENSE
53a-217c CRIM POSSESS PISTOL/REVOLVER
29-35(a) CARRYING PISTOL WO PERMIT
29-36 ILL ALTERATION FIREARM IDENTS
29-38 ILL POSS WEAPON IN MTR VEHICLE
21a-279(a)(1) POS CONTROL SUBSTNCE 1ST OFFNS
21a-278(b(1A* POSS W/INTENT NARCOTIC SBSTNCE
21a-267(a) USE OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA
He initially went with another attorney, and when his bail bondsman didn’t like the way things were going, and suggested the man hire me instead, which he did.
The previous attorney got an offer of three years to serve, with three years suspended, and three years probation.
The problem with this offer is that when the defendant is addicted to drugs, he is likely to get arrested again in the next three years. In addition to the new charges, the State can ask for him to serve the three suspended years. In this gentleman’s case, this was effectively a six-year sentence.
He also didn’t live in Connecticut.
Six years to serve is a pretty stiff sentence, especially for someone addicted to drugs who doesn’t have full control over his life’s choices. It also makes moving away when he got out somewhat challenging.
After some negotiating, I was able to get the State’s Attorney and the judge to agree to a four year flat sentence. That is, four years to serve, with no probation. This cut his effective sentence down by two years, and also meant he could easily leave Connecticut when he was done.
Not too many attorneys argue for flat sentences, because they usually demand a longer initial sentence. But in this case, I feel very confident it means the client will end up serving less time, and it also allows him to move out of Connecticut after he is released from incarceration without having to jump through tons of bureaucratic hoops with the Probation Office.
This happened in 2023.
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