During an hour long hearing in front of Judge Howard F. Riley, Jr., Thomas Barrett was sentenced to 6 1/2-to-23 months at Chester County Prison and 2 years consecutive probation following his June 4 conviction on Possession of a Controlled Substance, DUI 2nd offense/3rd tier, and Possession of a Firearm Without a License.
Assistant District Attorney Michelle Frei had requested a sentence of 9-to-23 months in CCP and 3 years consecutive probation, citing Barrett's past run-ins with the legal system, including a 1998 drug charge that was expunged following successful completion of Drug Court, a 2001 DUI case that was disposed of through the ARD program, and a 2002 Simple Assault charge that was reduced to a summary harassment charge after Barrett testified against several co-defendants. Frei also found Barrett's testimony that he had the weapon in his car after visiting a Delaware County shooting range to be "incredible." She also alleged that Barrett had used alcohol and marijuana in the interim period between the verdict and sentencing, a charged denied by Barrett's defense counsel Joseph Patrick Green. To rebut the accusations, Green offered to have Barrett submit to a drug screening before being formally sentenced, a move that Judge Riley through was unneccesary.
During his arguement, Green urged Judge Riley to respect the jury's verdict, in that Barrett was acquitted of the most serious of charges - Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent to Deliver, a charge that could've potentially landed him in state prison for a 5 year mandatory term, due to the possesison of the firearm. Green also noted that Barrett has been sober since his arrest, and that the one thing that was keeping his client on the straight and narrow was the fact that he was away from the "drug crowd" and living with his sister and her children outside of Coatesville. Green had urged Judge Riley to sentence his client to the 90 day mandatory minimum on the DUI charge and probation on the remaining charges.
The hearing took an intersting turn when the issue of whether or not Barrett was actually at the shooting range in Delaware County on the day of his arrest in April 2006 was raised by the defense. The Commonwealth's contention that Barrett's testimony was "incredible" was based on the fact that he claimed he was at the shooting range despite not having a photo ID and that at the time of the traffic stop, the weapon was loaded, where the range's policy required weapons to be cleared before leaving the range. The policy was all but confirmed by, of all people, Judge Riley, who had admitted to frequenting that particular range in the past and was, presumably, familiar with that policy.
In any event, Frei attempted to downplay Barrett's contentions by noting that the Sheriff's Office has a contract with the range in question and that one of the ranking officers within the Sheriff's Office confirmed the policy was still in effect. She also noted that the policy at that range of surrendering a photo ID and clearing the weapon prior to leaving the range is pretty much a uniform policy with all shooting ranges.
Green later argued that the Commonwealth's recommendation of 9 months in jail was intended to disregard the jury's verdict in the overall case at hand, and also argued that in determining the sentence, the court couldn't consider the Drug Court, ARD, or Summary offense dispostions in the other three cases.
Barrett then addressed the court, saying that the arrest was a life changing experience for him, and that he didn't want to lose what he had gained back over the past year, most notably the ties with his family, and being able to do things with his sister's children (attending swim practices and soccer practices, and such). He reiterated to Judge Riley that he wasn't a criminal, just simply a drug addict and that he had gained nearly 50 pounds as a result of his sobriety.
Judge Riley then addressed Barrett, saying that he had a diffcult time accepting Barrett's version of events, noting that he wasn't being punished for going to trial per se, but the testimony that was presented would have an effect on the eventual sentence (which is something he mentions to all defendants who go to trial).
After nearly 15 minutes of reviewing everything, Judge Riley sentenced Barrett to 6 1/2-to-23 months in jail, the mandatory $1,500 fine, the $105 Lima Lab fee, a CRN evaluation, a drug and alcohol evaluation and to follow all recommended treatment, and suffer an 18 month suspension of his driver's license. On the drug possession and firearms charges, Barrett was sentenced to 2 years probation consecutive to the DUI sentence, and forfeit the firearm siezed in the arrest. Barrett's car is also subject to seizure, however that will addressed in a separate civil proceeding.
Green requested for Barrett, and was granted work release eligibilty in accordance with prison policies. Green also argued that bail for his client should be continued pending an appeal that would be filed within the next 20 days. When Judge Riley asked if the Commonwealth had objections, Frei empahtically responded, "Absolutely!" In granting Green's request over the Commonwealth's objections, Judge Riley noted that there were no felony convictions in the matter and the sentence wasn't sufficent enough to justify being held in custody during appeal. Barrett remains free on 10 percent of $3,500 bail pending appeal.
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