By Stephanie Boulos
SACRAMENTO, CA – Judge Patrick Marlette told defendant Robert Masters, “We believe in you” here this week in Dept. 63 of Sacramento County Superior Court as he meted out a sentence of three months in a substance abuse program as opposed to 16 months to two years in prison.
In an offer to suspend a low term sentence without a strike for possession of methamphetamine, defendant Masters and his attorney Nickell Kyra were able to resolve the matter without Masters serving time in the county jail.
His most recent prior conviction resulted in his having to register as a sex offender, and really deepened the effects of his possession.
The defendant, with 13 other cases on his file in the public access domain of Sacramento county, was caught with two grams of methamphetamine, and, in doing so, was found in violation of the terms of his probation from his prior felony conviction and resulting probation.
Because of the methamphetamine found on his person, the usual charge would be a misdemeanor, but because of his probation, the drugs resulted in a felony charge.
This particular felony charge has a minimum sentence of two months to two years.
Judge Marlette said that “this is better than prison for 16 months… we all believe in you” to the defendant, and strongly encouraged him in his pursuit of addressing his use of substances at the same time.
While encouraging him, Judge Marlette warned the defendant of just how serious his pursuit would be taken, and how any deviation from it would result in very drastic consequences.
The judge gave the following examples to demonstrate just how serious he was, noting, “If you go into the project and are an exceptional student and reach graduation day but fail to wear their shirt and get kicked out on the last day you will fail and come back here.”
The next example given by the judge was if “you leave and go into another program that’s better across the street but fail to notify us, you will fail and have to come back here and face jail time.”
I’m a second year Political Science and Philosophy major at UC Davis from SoCal, hoping to pursue a career in law!
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