Nicholas Conner, right, enters guilty pleas to five charges before First Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington Tuesday in Santa Fe. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com
Nicholas Conner pleaded guilty to four counts of trafficking methamphetamine and one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute under a plea agreement signed before First Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington Monday in Santa Fe.
Conner was arrested in March during Operation Spring Cleaning, a drug sweep conducted by the Los Alamos Police Department and other law enforcement agencies that netted seven arrests. Two counts of possession of a controlled substance, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of possession of marijuana were dismissed under the agreement.
For each of the five counts, Conner faces nine years of incarceration, which could be suspended. All five counts will run consecutively to each other for all purposes meaning that Conner faces a total sentence of 45 years plus additional time possible for habitual offender status. The habitual offender status results from a 2013 conviction for possession of controlled substance.
Deputy District Attorney Kent Wahlquist said that at initial sentencing only, Conner faces exposure to a maximum sentence of incarceration of six years and that the Court had the discretion to suspend 39 to 45 years of the total 45 years basic sentence.
Judge Ellington stated he was remanding Conner to the custody of the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office to be delivered to Los Alamos and then transported to the Department of Corrections in Los Lunas for a 60-day evaluation. Conner’s attorney Roderick Frechette told the Court that Conner was caught off guard and is the sole parent of a 9-year old.
Judge Ellington said Conner is a convicted felon with five trafficking counts and has a prior conviction for possession.
Frechette argued that Conner has been “clean, doing everything, going above and beyond, full-time employed and going to family parenting”. Judge Ellington said he needed to determine if Conner is an appropriate candidate for probation or any kind of suspended sentence going forward with the plea and that with his prior history, he didn’t know the answer to that question.
“I get significant information from a diagnostic evaluation,” Judge Ellington said.
“I’m not prepared in any way today to go to jail. I have my house, my cats,” Conner replied. “If I would have known that was potentially going to happen today I would have made arrangements for things to be taken care of in that.”
Wahlquist told the Court the 60-day evaluation is important to determine exactly what Conner needs. He pointed out that Conner’s history includes not only the prior felony possession conviction but two driving while intoxicated offenses.
“The argument concerning his child shouldn’t sway the Court because his child was present during some of these transactions, which is why we will eventually ask for six years,” Wahlquist said.
Frechette asked if the Court would give Conner a few days to get things in order.
“Given he’s potentially facing 45 years I’m not sure that’s a good path because any violation from this moment forward would allow the State to come back and ask for the six years plus the mandatory time,” Judge Ellington said before remanding Conner into custody.
