NORWICH – A Norwich man who admitted to selling drugs out of a mobile home in the City of Norwich will avoid a state prison sentence if he completes a state-run drug treatment program.
Justin C. Harrington, 23, 115 Rexford St. appeared before Judge W. Howard Sullivan in Chenango County Court Monday. He pleaded guilty to first degree criminal nuisance, a class E felony. The crime carries a sentence of 1 1/3 to 4 years behind bars. Rather than serving that time in state prison, however, Harrington has been given the opportunity to enter the New York State Department of Correction’s Willard program, a 90-day intensive drug and alcohol treatment program. If he successfully completes the program, he will serve out the remainder of his sentence on parole.
The plea agreement is part of a deal negotiated by Harrington’s defense attorney, David Sonn, the Chenango County District Attorney’s Office and the court. One of its stipulations was that the drug offender waive his right to further appeal the case.
Sullivan pointed out that Harrington was only 23 or 24, and already he has been “in and out of jail and on and off probation”
“Now is the time to put that behind you,” the judge said.
Harrington was arrested on April 7 after the Norwich City Police visited his trailer in the Rexford Street Trailer Park for the second time in as many days. On their first visit, a number of drugs and drug paraphernalia were seized and Harrington’s girlfriend, 23 year-old Rhonda L. Hernandez, was arrested. She was subsequently charged with five counts of seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal use of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors.
When the police returned the following day, they discovered Harrington and another individual at the trailer, as well as more drugs.
Harrington was arrested on the criminal nuisance charge, for allegedly maintaining a residence for the purpose of facilitating the buying and selling of drugs.
The trailer’s other occupant, Curissa Jenkins of Oxford, was also taken into custody. According to police, the 23-year old woman allegedly had 19 individually-wrapped packages of heroin and 10 knotted bags of cocaine in her possession at the time of her arrest. On June 15, she was indicted on two counts of second degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class B felony, in connection with the incident.
Jenkins is no stranger to the judicial system. She has a previous felony conviction in connection to another drug bust which took place on March 27, 2009. On that date, Jenkins and her then-boyfriend Michael A. Victor Jr., were arrested after law enforcement officers raided two apartments in the City of Norwich. The couple were believed to live in one of the apartments – at 31 Hickok Ave – while using the other – at 72 Plymouth St. – as a front for an illegal narcotics operation.
Quantities of marijuana and crack cocaine were seized in the raid, as well as several thousand dollars in bundled cash and a loaded 12-gauge shotgun.
A few days later, police also raided a storage unit allegedly rented in Jenkins’ name on April 3. Inside the unit was a 2004 Mercedes Benz coupe in which police discovered $25,000 worth of crack cocaine. A loaded assault weapon and other loaded firearms, all with their serial numbers ground off, were also allegedly found hidden in the car.
Jenkins agreed to testify against Victor in exchange for a lesser sentence. In January of 2010, she pleaded guilty to fifth degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class D felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of two and a half years with one year of post release supervision, in full satisfaction of her 2009 indictment.
She has not yet been sentenced on this most recent charge.
Hernandez, with whom Harrington has a child, is currently in Chenango County Drug Treatment Court. According to Sullivan, she is doing well in the program.