Drug dealer pleads guilty, gets released and asks to keep pistol
NORWICH – A previously convicted felon, while pleading guilty to trying to sell meth in Chenango County Court, asked the judge Monday to make sure the sentence would not impact his current pistol ownership.
In a separate incident, police had charged the same person of being involved in a stabbing in Norwich in October of 2018, but those charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence and witness cooperation.
Appearing in court Monday, Matthew J. Neer, 36, of Norwich, pleaded guilty to fifth degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a D class felony, and admitted to the court that he was trying to sell two grams of methamphetamine on April 5 in the City of Norwich.
He was sentenced to participate in the judicial diversion program and put on interim probation.
Neer said he had a pistol and a permit from Broome County and wanted to make sure Monday's plea deal would not change that.
Neer was released to participate in the program after already serving several months at the Chenango County Correctional Facility.
In addition to being guilty of felony grand larceny in Broome County Court in 2015, First Assistant District Attorney James Snashall said Neer also had 10 prior misdemeanor convictions from Norwich, Sherburne, Vestal and Broome County areas.
Snachall said he was unaware Neer had a pistol permit, or how a convicted felon would have been permitted to keep one. He said the DA's office would contact officials in Broome, who issued the original permit to get more information.
Neer avoided a prison sentence by participating in judicial diversion.
Following the plea, Snachall asked Chenango County Court Judge Frank Revoir to sentence Neer to a felony charge as part of the deal, but the judge opted to give Neer another chance instead, offering to sentence him to misdemeanor if he behaved during the year of interim probation.
“I don't believe the record and facts warrant a misdemeanor in this case,” Snachall told the court. “It should be a felony.”
But Revoir said the purpose of the judicial diversion program was reform. He said the criteria on Neer were intentionally strict.
It was unclear if the terms would prevent him from owning a pistol though.
Revoir said Neer's drug problems contributed greatly to his criminal history. He said since Neer was a predicate felon, this would likely be his last chance. The judge said he would sentence Neer to four years in prison if he violated the terms of Monday's plea agreement.
“I'm going out on a limb here,” said the judge to Neer.
Neer gained attention in an unrelated case last year when the Norwich Police arrested him on October 11 and charged him with first-degree assault, a class B felony, tampering with physical evidence, a class E felony, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class A misdemeanor.
All the charges in that case were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
The Chenango County Public Defender’s Office, who are representing Neer, said based on the information they had received, the fight started when Neer was physically attacked and punched in the face by another man. They said Neer had essentially acted in self-defense.
Assistant Public Defender Zachary Wentworth said Neer had attempted to flee the confrontation after it began and was pursued by the other man.
According to the Norwich Police at the time: at about 1:58 a.m. on Oct. 11, officers received notification from 911 that an individual had walked into the emergency room of Chenango Memorial Hospital reporting he had been stabbed.
“Through the investigation, it was learned that the victim and Neer were acquaintances and they had been involved in an argument while on Mechanic Street near South State Street,” said Norwich Police Chief Rodney Marsh at the time.
“At some point, the argument turned into a physical confrontation between the two and that was when the victim was stabbed,” said Marsh.
Marsh said the victim was treated at Chenango Memorial Hospital for a stab wound to the left side rib cage and was released.
According to a felony complaint filed with Norwich City Court, the man who was stabbed in the case told police he knew Neer and had bought meth from him on prior occasions.
Snachall said he could not comment on non-current or previous cases that did not result in any charges going forward. He said state law banned court officials and prosecutors from discussing cases where charges were dismissed or dropped. He said the records would have been sealed.
(The headline of this story was changed after new information was received after print. A follow-up article will be in Wednesday's Evening Sun.)
In a separate incident, police had charged the same person of being involved in a stabbing in Norwich in October of 2018, but those charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence and witness cooperation.
Appearing in court Monday, Matthew J. Neer, 36, of Norwich, pleaded guilty to fifth degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a D class felony, and admitted to the court that he was trying to sell two grams of methamphetamine on April 5 in the City of Norwich.
He was sentenced to participate in the judicial diversion program and put on interim probation.
Neer said he had a pistol and a permit from Broome County and wanted to make sure Monday's plea deal would not change that.
Neer was released to participate in the program after already serving several months at the Chenango County Correctional Facility.
In addition to being guilty of felony grand larceny in Broome County Court in 2015, First Assistant District Attorney James Snashall said Neer also had 10 prior misdemeanor convictions from Norwich, Sherburne, Vestal and Broome County areas.
Snachall said he was unaware Neer had a pistol permit, or how a convicted felon would have been permitted to keep one. He said the DA's office would contact officials in Broome, who issued the original permit to get more information.
Neer avoided a prison sentence by participating in judicial diversion.
Following the plea, Snachall asked Chenango County Court Judge Frank Revoir to sentence Neer to a felony charge as part of the deal, but the judge opted to give Neer another chance instead, offering to sentence him to misdemeanor if he behaved during the year of interim probation.
“I don't believe the record and facts warrant a misdemeanor in this case,” Snachall told the court. “It should be a felony.”
But Revoir said the purpose of the judicial diversion program was reform. He said the criteria on Neer were intentionally strict.
It was unclear if the terms would prevent him from owning a pistol though.
Revoir said Neer's drug problems contributed greatly to his criminal history. He said since Neer was a predicate felon, this would likely be his last chance. The judge said he would sentence Neer to four years in prison if he violated the terms of Monday's plea agreement.
“I'm going out on a limb here,” said the judge to Neer.
Neer gained attention in an unrelated case last year when the Norwich Police arrested him on October 11 and charged him with first-degree assault, a class B felony, tampering with physical evidence, a class E felony, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class A misdemeanor.
All the charges in that case were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
The Chenango County Public Defender’s Office, who are representing Neer, said based on the information they had received, the fight started when Neer was physically attacked and punched in the face by another man. They said Neer had essentially acted in self-defense.
Assistant Public Defender Zachary Wentworth said Neer had attempted to flee the confrontation after it began and was pursued by the other man.
According to the Norwich Police at the time: at about 1:58 a.m. on Oct. 11, officers received notification from 911 that an individual had walked into the emergency room of Chenango Memorial Hospital reporting he had been stabbed.
“Through the investigation, it was learned that the victim and Neer were acquaintances and they had been involved in an argument while on Mechanic Street near South State Street,” said Norwich Police Chief Rodney Marsh at the time.
“At some point, the argument turned into a physical confrontation between the two and that was when the victim was stabbed,” said Marsh.
Marsh said the victim was treated at Chenango Memorial Hospital for a stab wound to the left side rib cage and was released.
According to a felony complaint filed with Norwich City Court, the man who was stabbed in the case told police he knew Neer and had bought meth from him on prior occasions.
Snachall said he could not comment on non-current or previous cases that did not result in any charges going forward. He said state law banned court officials and prosecutors from discussing cases where charges were dismissed or dropped. He said the records would have been sealed.
(The headline of this story was changed after new information was received after print. A follow-up article will be in Wednesday's Evening Sun.)
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