Valley Lee man sentenced 4 years on cocaine charge

Investigation uncovers ‘major’ record, compliance with previous probation

Friday, July 11, 2008

John Edward Colleary, 54, was arrested last fall in a two-day warrant sweep led by St. Mary’s narcotics investigators, on an indictment also charging him with the possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Grand jurors indicted Colleary after a raid in July of last year at his residence by detectives who reported seizing more than two pounds of marijuana and one ounce of powdered cocaine, with a total street value of about $6,000.

A St. Mary’s prosecutor said at Colleary’s bond hearing on the indictment that the suspect had tallied two felony and four misdemeanor drug convictions over a 30-year period, and a judge concurred that Colleary be required to post a $25,000 bond for his pretrial release. The judge also noted that Colleary said through a jailhouse television link that he had property to put up the bond.

When Colleary pleaded guilty last February to the felony cocaine charge, the judge refused Colleary’s request that he remain free on bond to await the results of his presentence investigation.

Colleary said at that time that he needed about two more weeks to finish building a storage shed for his belongings, and to find tenants to rent his property.

‘‘I had 22 cars,” he said. ‘‘I’ve already sold 10 of them.”

Revoking Colleary’s bond, St. Mary’s Circuit Judge C. Clarke Raley said, ‘‘The court cannot treat you in a disparate way from how everyone is treated in this courtroom.”

The maximum penalty for the cocaine offense was 20 years in prison. The sentencing guidelines worksheet prepared by a senior agent with the state division of parole and probation listed a sentence range of between five and 10 years in prison. After Monday’s sentencing hearing, St. Mary’s State’s Attorney Richard Fritz said the agent had recommended a five-year prison term.

Raley sentenced Colleary to serve the four-year prison term, with credit for the 140 days he spent in jail. ‘‘Whenever he’s been on probation,” Fritz said later, ‘‘apparently he’s been a successful candidate.”

The sentencing worksheet indicates that Colleary had no probation violations on his record.

Colleary’s forfeited $3,381 from his posted bond to the county, court papers state, and the state’s attorney tallied Colleary’s total financial loss, including the seized drugs, at about $10,000.

In a separate matter, Robert Maurice Scriber, 33, of Lexington Park was sentenced Monday to consecutive sentences totaling 10 years in prison on his guilty pleas to possessing cocaine in February 2007 in Park Hall and distributing cocaine the following month in Lexington Park.