A St. Mary’s County judge says she is reluctant to impose a sentence in the St. Mary’s County Detention Center because of the lack of air conditioning. During a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Judge Karen Abrams gave a defendant a sentence of mostly home detention and work release because of the conditions at the jail during these hot months.
The St. Mary’s County Commissioners, although they rejected a proposal to expand the jail, have budgeted monies for a renovation of the jail including air conditioning.
Judge Abrams sentenced Timothy “T-Bird” Wiley, 50, to a total of three months in jail after he pled guilty in April to two counts of possession of cocaine. Wiley was indicted in December of last year after being arrested for selling cocaine to “confidential informants.”
The judge sentenced Wiley to two years in jail but suspended the sentence to three months on each count and made them concurrent, for a net of 30 days. He will be on two year’s supervised probation after release. The actual sentence is below the minimum state guidelines of six months to two years.
Judge Abrams said that even though she was reluctant to sentence him to the jail, she required him spend seven days there to realize the impact of his crime before going on home detention. He will be given work release to go to his job. Wiley has worked for almost 30 years on base and has several other part-time jobs. He is caring for an epileptic son at his home.
Wiley’s attorney, Public Defender Gerald Riviello said he was a hard worker and volunteered in the community but got into a financial bind and did what he did to attempt to make some extra money. The lawyer said his client didn’t have an appreciation for the harm to the community by his actions but has come to appreciate it since his arrest.
Wiley told the judge, “I made a very bad decision last fall. It will never happen again.” He said his criminal actions were an isolated incident.
But Judge Abrams said that confidential informants deal with people they know. The judge pointed out Wiley’s three arrests for driving while impaired and also family problems related to drinking. “It shows you have an alcohol problem,” the judge said and later added, “You have a very serious substance abuse problem.”
The judge ordered Wiley to show up at the jail on Friday for his seven-day sentence in the jail. She said it was up to the sheriff’s office corrections division to work out the details of the home detention and work release. Defendants have to pay a daily fee for home detention.
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