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4 Of 5 Alleged Columbia Drug Dealers Offered Probation Plea Deals
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jun 21, 2011
Modified Jun 21, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jun 21, 2011
Modified Jun 21, 2011
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The city's Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office today announced that it had offered plea deals to the former Columbia students accused of dealing drugs out of dorms and frats, but none of them are biting. Yet.
The office is offering Chris Coles, Adam Klein, Joseph Stephan Perez, and Michael Wymbs five years of probation and no-jail in exchange for pleading guilty to D felony charges. At the same time Harrison David, who faces the most serious charges related to cocaine sales and who was already locked up the longest, was offered one year in prison and two years of supervised release for copping to a B felony charge (that's Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree).
So what's stopping them from taking the deal? All of the alleged dealers besides David are actively seeking to have their cases diverted to drug-abuse treatment, though prosecutors don't seem interested in the idea. Under that plan, they could get the charges dismissed or lowered to misdemeanors if they succeed in treatment.
The announcement of the offer comes on the heels of the revelation that one of the detectives who helped bust up "Operation Ivy League," Richard Palase, was involved in the Staten Island gambling ring taken down earlier this month.
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columbia university
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manhattan
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