Guilty pleas mount in 2012 drug bust

[foolsgold]

Three more young adults have pleaded guilty to drug charges stemming from an apartment raid in 2012.

Five people between the ages of 18 and 20 were arrested in July 2012 at the Summit Crossing apartment complex in what Forsyth County Sheriff’s investigators described as a major blow to drug distributors.

Earlier this month, the two men who had been renting the apartment, Noah Paul Spicer and Alex Michael Robichaux, each received five years on probation for a litany of drug charges.

Spicer, 21, pleaded guilty Oct. 7 to one count each of possession with intent to distribute methadone, ecstasy, LSD and marijuana.

Both Spicer and Robichaux, 19, pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of marijuana, ketamine, DMT and DMA, both of which are psychedelic drugs.

Spicer also pleaded to one additional charge for possession of diazepam, a prescription medication usually known by the brand name Valium.

The four counts for possession with intent to distribute were dropped against Robichaux, who entered his plea Friday in Forsyth County Superior Court.

Both men must also submit to a substance abuse evaluation and undergo any recommended treatment and complete 120 hours of community service, according to the conditions of probation.

Evan Michael Snider, 21, also arrested during the investigation, pleaded guilty Oct. 7 to a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana. The remaining counts were merged.

Snider received a year on probation, also with the conditions of 120 hours of community service and required substance abuse evaluation.

The sheriff’s office found the drugs in the home rented by Spicer and Robichaux, but authorities reported all five who were arrested lived there at the time.

Also found in the residence were scales, bags, more than 100 pipes and cash.

Joshua Taylor Bell, 20, was the first of the five young adults to plead guilty in September.

Bell received 60 to 120 days in jail and five years on probation in September for four counts of possession with intent to distribute and four counts of drug possession, the same substances as Spicer except for diazepam.

Kara Lane Buffington, 19, awaits trial on the eight counts to which Bell pleaded guilty.

If the case reaches trial, her four co-defendants must testify against her, according to a condition of their probation. Those men also cannot have any contact with each other.


http://www.forsythnews.com/section/6/article/20810/

 

[weekend addiction]

So young to be getting lots of charges like that.

 

[caseface99]

Christ... Articles like this remind me just HOW FUCKING LUCKY I am.

Had the police caught wind of my apartment when I lived in SF back when I was still using/involved with that lifestyle, It would have been an extremely similar news article. So glad I don't need to worry about that anymore.

 

[juno nightmare]

quote "in what Forsyth County Sheriff’s investigators described as a major blow to drug distributors."

i dont really think that arresting 5 kids for drugs is really a major blow to drug distributors. it sounds like they just busted the obvious house full of kids with some drugs that they were using and selling. they got people at the bottom of the chain. sure these guys were dealing however, i doubt they were moving very serious weight since they mostly just got probation thru plea deals. if they were moving serious weight of anything other than pot they would have got hit much harder. also i can almost guarantee these people are all white and all first time offenders. unfortunately in the amerika if you are black and have drugs you go to prison, if you are white and you are dealing drugs you get probation from plea deals. its fucked up but it is a hard truth of life in this broken nation.

All drugs should be legal. Prohibition only hurts people it does nothing to keep people from hurting themselves.

While these kids only got probation, they plead guilty to multiple felonies. their lives are over at this point and they have only just begun. the shitty thing about charging people with felonies for drugs is it makes them MORE LIKELY to use drugs in the future. it is not a deterrent. especially once you get felonies on your record you cant get a good job, you basically are barred from having a successful life from that point forward. you lose a lot of your rights as a citizen and are treated like a 2nd class citizen. it ruins lives and destroys productivity. think of all that could be added to our society if we didnt have a government that willfully denies access to success thru drug laws. all the people with drug felonies are being underutilized. they are smart people and could be productive members of society but they are labeled )FELON( and from that point until their death they are a permanent member of a underclass. they are socially handicapped. the government says to them "you are no longer allowed to have a rich and full life, we dont care what potential you have, you committed a nonviolent crime and we no longer want you to participate in our society as an equal."

There are some people involved with drugs that are real criminals. But they actually commit violent crimes, they murder people or drive intoxicated and hurt or kill someone, they do armed robberies or burn down buildings or commit rape. People who commit violent crimes where people are clearly hurt or otherwise victimized should be in prison. Many career criminals started on a path to a life of crime because they got drug offenses when they were young and they can never get a decent job, they cant afford to provide for themselves and their families. Drugs are a problem in our society but destroying peoples lives just because they use drugs does not help to make our society any better.

The problem of drugs in our society is not because of the drugs but because of the way we treat those who use them. Drugs can be addictive and damaging but they only become a serious danger when they are produced, distributed, and sold by the criminal element. There are no rules for criminals if they want to increase profits they just cut the drugs with whatever is convenient. They dont understand how drugs work or the actual health risks associated with drugs. They are just seeking money and many times an easy way to support a habit and/or a family.

By destroying peoples lives based on choices they make that are not violent and typically dont hurt anyone but themselves, we are destroying a large portion of our own population. We are condemning people to a living hell of poverty, despair, failure, and rejection. If we stopped rejecting these people and started helping them, they would feel included in society instead of being scorned. They may even start to want to give something back instead of always taking for themselves. End the drug war and prohibition. The amount of money to be made from legalized drugs could bring our country out of an economic depression and back to being a great nation that values freedom above all else. Hell, even the money saved just from fighting the drug war could be used to train and hire more police so that when things went wrong there would always be a peace officer there to help our of diffuse the situation. Our current model of policing is oppressive and punitive. This largely comes from an "us against them" mentality that is necessary when fight a war. Why are we at war with ourselves? Civil wars are not won they just end when everyone gets tired of killing and one side gives up.

We say we love freedom in this country but we dont even have the freedom to use our own bodies the way we want. If we were not supposed to use drugs we would not have a vastly complex and nuanced system that can be effected by so many different chemicals. If drug use is not an essential part of being a conscious human being they why is it possible for us to use drugs at all. Everyone wants to get out of their own head and feel different sometimes and maybe see things differently, that is not wrong, that is being a curious creature that appreciates the wonder of existence.

 

[poledriver]

Yeah too true, good post juno, it's a shame that people in positions of power don't think this way and don't really seem on any track to do anything about or fix alot of the things you mentioned above.

 

[letmebangbro]

Bell received 60 to 120 days in jail and five years on probation in September for four counts of possession with intent to distribute and four counts of drug possession, the same substances as Spicer except for diazepam.


Hey guys I thought that with four intent to distribute felonys you would get way more time, than 60-120 days in jail...even though its alot of probation. Whats the deal with that?

 

[S.J.B.]

Hey guys I thought that with four intent to distribute felonys you would get way more time, than 60-120 days in jail...even though its alot of probation. Whats the deal with that?

He agreed to rat on his friends if they were to end up going to trial (looks like all of his friends but one took the same deal). What a bunch of spineless punks.

 

[neversickanymore]

"Forsyth County Sheriff’s investigators described as a major blow to drug distributors." I bet they do say that.. with the sentences being handed out it looks to me like a rinky dink weed and party drug house was taken down.. now these young kids will have that shit on their records until they are dead.. and what was actually accomplished besides the futures of these kids being destroyed. Not a god damn thing.. major blow to drug distributors my ass.. do these clowns actually think anybodies buying their propaganda anymore. Way to go guys, be careful patting yourself on the back to hard, you might injure yourself and then who will be around to try and ruin kids lives. You lost the war now get a real job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TheRapperGoneBad]

Its unfortunate that they face jail time at all. I'd prefer to go to the store for these kinda things over businesses run with no quality control or gaurentee of quality product.

And that they are flippin on each other is sad you'd think if you were all doing your thing youd own up to it and take a slap on the wrist.

Wonder where they were gettin all those drugs at.. also makes me think of a sr vendor who was just doin the same thing. wonder if we'll ever hear about any arrest or that guy gettin takin out.

 

[SteeleyJ]

Distribution of LSD would be the charge that worried me most.