La Plata, Md – A man who fell asleep at the wheel at a stop light with his 3-year-old child in the back seat, pled guilty to two counts of possession of CDS not marijuana Monday, July 13 before Charles County Circuit Court Judge Helen I. Harrington.
Joseph Walker Skinner, 32 of Bryans Road, pled to possession of oxycodone and xanax. Both counts carry maximum penalties of four years and a $25,000 fine respectively.
“I would ask for the sentence to be deferred,” defense attorney Kenneth McPherson said. “He is about to go into drug treatment for 21 to 30 days. We need something from the court that says he will not have to appear in court for 30 days to complete counseling and evaluation.”
As part of the plea agreement Skinner must forfeit all money seized at the time of his arrest.
Charles County Assistant State’s Attorney Tiffany Campbell told the court the charges stemmed from an incident which occurred Nov. 15. Charles County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to St. Paul’s Drive in Waldorf near St. Charles Parkway for the report of a Ford SUV in which the driver was found to be asleep at the wheel.
“The officers made contact with the occupant, identified as the defendant,” Campbell said. “The officers discovered a 3-year-old child asleep in the back seat. Police awakened the driver, who was found to be in possession of two plastic baggies. One contained 17 tablets which later tested as oxycodone and the other had 21 xanax tablets.”
McPherson said his client was enrolled in a program at Cambridge.
“When will they have a bed?” Harrington asked.
“As soon as I know the outcome of this hearing, they were willing to pick me up today,” Skinner replied.
Harrington scheduled sentencing for Sept. 18 and told the defendant to “consider a longer term program.”
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com