Jerome A. Herbert

Leonardtown, MD — Another person has been given jail time as the result of the two-day drug sweep in St. Mary’s County dubbed “Operation Season Greetings.” St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department Vice/Narcotics detectives conducted the operation just before Christmas last year.

Jerome “Big Mac” Herbert, 29, of Leonardtown was sentenced July 17 to four years in jail, but Circuit Court Judge Karen Abrams suspended all but 18 months of the sentence so that he can serve his time locally in the St. Mary’s County Detention Center. Herbert pled guilty to possession of cocaine. The state dropped possession with intent to distribute charges in accepting the plea.

Before sentencing, Herbert’s attorney Ralph Warren Sr. of Largo made a strong plea on behalf of his client. “He is really on the right track completely. He is doing all he can,” the attorney noted, including enrolling at the College of Southern Maryland (CSM), completing a drug treatment program and holding down two jobs. “He is making amends for the activity he has been involved in,” Warren stated.

Warren said of Herbert’s plea to possession of cocaine: “He thought the facts were in his favor but he didn’t want to take the risk of going to trial.”

Assistant States Attorney Julie White noted the state guidelines for the crime were three to seven years. But Warren pleaded for leniency for Herbert. “I think incarceration will exacerbate his situation,” he said. He asked for the possibility of home detention

Judge Abrams, in reviewing Herbert’s Pre-Sentence Investigation from the Department of Parole and  Probation, observed what she said was the real “truth” about Herbert, including a long record of criminal charges, a six-month sentence in 2008 followed by a violation of probation charge and several suspended and dismissed charges. “You have been in this trade for quite some time. This has been your life,” she said.

But the judge also said she was also impressed by the steps taken by Herbert to get his life on track, particularly his enrollment at CSM.  “Part of me is optimistic,” she said in deciding to give Herbert a chance by sentencing him to local time so he can continue with college and his jobs. She also advised him to continue counseling.

Herbert will be on three year’s supervised probation when he is released from jail.

Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com