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No Jail For Pot Dealer
Alan J. Keays | Rutland Herald | 07/20/2006

A 78-year-old Fair Haven man charged earlier this year with repeatedly selling marijuana to a police informant and possessing 5 pounds of the illegal substance when he was arrested will pay a hefty fine instead of going to jail.

Steven H. Smith pleaded guilty Wednesday in Rutland District Court to three felony charges of selling marijuana and one felony count of marijuana possession. As part of a plea deal, he was fined $7,500, and also ordered to pay about $1,200 in state surcharges for his convictions.

Judge Patricia Zimmerman asked Smith if he needed time to make payments on his fine.

"I brought enough to the pay the $7,500," Smith replied.

Assistant State's Attorney General Annika Frostick, who prosecuted the case, told the judge that the plea deal takes into account Smith's age, as well as the offenses.

"We tried to sort of fashion this sentence for this particular defendant," she said.

Zimmerman said she would approve the plea deal.

"I will say that the state exercised its discretion in an appropriate way," the judge said.

Stephen Klein, a Rutland attorney representing Smith, stood by his client at the defense table in the courtroom as the judge explained to Smith his rights before entering the plea deal.

At one point, the judge asked Smith if he agreed to the terms of the plea agreement and was willing to plead guilty to the charges.

"(Klein) convinced me it was a good idea," Smith replied.

"Do you agree it's a good idea?" Zimmerman asked him.

"Yes," Smith said.

An investigation by the Vermont Drug Task Force along with the Fair Haven Police Department led to Smith's arrest in February.

According to court records, an informant working with police reported having bought marijuana from Smith once or twice a week for about a year, buying up to one-quarter pound of marijuana each time.

The informant also reported repeatedly going to Smith's upstairs apartment on North Main Street in Fair Haven to make the purchases, a police affidavit stated.

On Feb. 3, Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, police said they arranged "controlled buys" of marijuana from Smith, with the informant purchasing roughly an ounce of marijuana from Smith each time.

On Feb. 13, police received a warrant to search Smith's apartment, and on Feb. 15 conducted the search. Police said when they got to the apartment, no one was home and the door was locked.

A little more than an hour later, Smith drove up and was taken into custody for selling marijuana, court records stated. Police said they seized a total of about 5 pounds of marijuana.

"Drug dealers come in all shapes and forms nowadays," Vermont State Police Lt. Paul Favreau said following Smith's arrest. "I've heard of elderly people selling painkillers and other meds to addicts, but not marijuana."

The lieutenant said, in his 16 years with the State Police, Smith is the oldest man that he has seen arrested for selling marijuana.

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hashish

He narced...

1tokeovertheline

Ya, on himself. The article said his age was a factor. He pleaded guilty, so he narced on himself.

Sec

Apparently he was prepared to pay the fine before he came to court.

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