Michael Deanglo Davis, Sr.
Leonardtown, MD — A Lexington Park man has been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to possession of heroin. Michael Deanglo Davis, Sr., 31, was sentenced March 3 in St. Mary’s County Circuit Court by Judge David Densford.
The maximum sentence for the charge was four years and Densford did impose that sentence but he suspended all but the sixth months. In exchange for the plea, State’s Attorney Rick Fritz agreed to nolle prosse two cocaine distribution charges.
According to the recitation of the facts by Fritz, Davis was arrested in December of 2013 after an undercover police operative made a cocaine purchase from him in Lexington Park. Davis had a previous conviction in 2011 for distribution of marijuana but did not receive any jail time for that, only a fine of $1,000 and forfeiture of $11,000.
Davis was represented at the hearing by Ralph Warren, Sr. of Largo. He said his client is a St. Mary’s County native who attended Great Mills High School and subsequently received a GED diploma. He has three children, aged 12, 10 and 7 and has two jobs (for the Enterprise and Direct Mail).
Warren asked the judge not to impose any jail time for his client so he could continue in his jobs and supporting his children.
The attorney said Davis is addicted to drugs. “He has been fighting the demons as so many individuals do,” Warren said.
Warren called the incident for which Davis was charged “an aberration.” He said his client had completed a drug program at Walden after his first conviction.
Judge Densford said based on the evidence he had in front of him, it appeared Davis was a distributor, whether it was to raise money for his habit or otherwise. He said he wasn’t able to determine whether Davis had been doing it for the four years between the two convictions and just hadn’t been caught. But he added, “You are a possessor and distributor of drugs. It is going to stop here or you are going to prison [state penal system].”
Warren also asked that Davis be considered for Adult Recovery Court, a program that the judge called rigorous lasting for a year to a year and a half. Judge Densford left open the possibility of Davis attending the Adult Recovery Court. An application would have to be made and Davis accepted into the program.
The judge said if Davis was accepted and completed the program he would consider giving him a probation before judgment so he wouldn’t have the conviction hanging over him. “You are at a crossroads,” the judge told Davis. “You started down the wrong road.”
The judge also authorized work release but that would have to be approved by the detention center. He also imposed a suspended $5,000 fine. Davis will be on five years’ supervised probation after his release and if he violates his probation the suspended jail term and the fine could be reinstated.
Contact Dick Myers at news@thebaynet.com