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Pre-sentencing

Interview with Victor and Mike

JM: Tell us about the pre-sentencing process:
Victor: I spent 15 months in county jail before I finally signed a plea deal. In that time, on a month or bi-monthly basis, I was shackled and brought into court to have an unreasonable plea offer waved before me and to deny it and have my date rescheduled. If there wasn't an offer then my date was simply postponed. A couple of times I didn't even go into the court room. But every time, I spent most of my day shackled in a small cell with a bunch of scumbags, a bench, a toilet, and was fed a shitty balogna sandwich at lunch time.
Mike: I was held in custody for a few days less than six months before I was even officially indicted. I was given a public defender who negotiated for me to receive the minimum sentence because I had never committed a felony before. I only had to make two or three court appearances and they were adjacent to the jail.

JM: Did you have police stop by your house for questioning? If not please give us details on how you came to be arrested.
Victor: I was pulled over on a routine traffic stop (speeding), where it was discovered that I had a warrant for my arrest, and drugs and a gun inside my vehicle. This happened in Sparta NJ at a late hour and I was interrogated afterward, which was degrading and had undertones of threatened violence if I were to not write a statement on myself.
Mike: The police did not stop by my house at all. I was arrested within ten minutes after committing a robbery. I walked into the bank and robbed it with a note and left within a minute. I then drove away and only got a couple of miles from the bank before I was pulled over and arrested.

JM: What was court like? Please give as many details as you recall.
Victor: I was given a public defender, Kevin McLaughlin, who is an overweight, incompetent fool. He did next to nothing to help me. However, the judge, at sentencing, offered insight and gave me a reduced sentence based upon my lack of a previous record and my service in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Mike: Because I never went to trial, I only had to make two or three court appearances and they were all short. I was very nervous and afraid when I made the first one at the arraignment because it was my first few days in jail and I was on suicide watch. Plus, I had no idea what to expect. By the time I made my next appearance I had adjusted to the time and I knew what was going to happen, so I was able to handle it much better. I took one look around the room and saw that everyone was staring at me so I never looked up after that, except to look at the judge. I said nothing in my own defense and left quietly when I was done.

JM: What were your original charges? What did you end up being convicted of?
Victor: I had about 13 charges total, most of them were duplicate charges for the same offense. I was convicted of 2nd degree eluding arrest, 3rd degree possession of CDS (heroin), 3rd degree possession of a firearm, 3rd degree possession of stolen property.
Mike: I was originally charged with first degree robbery and it was bargained down to a second degree bank robbery charge.

Read about sentencing in the Sussex County Jail