John M. Jackson
Leonardtown, MD — An Avenue man has been sentenced to 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to theft ($1,000 to $10,000). John M. Jackson, 39, was sentenced Monday in St., Mary’s County Circuit Court by Judge Michael Stamm.
Jackson has a long criminal history, which Judge Stamm said included three violations of probation and a number of previous arrests. Because of his criminal history the state sentencing guidelines for the offense were 8-10 years.
Jackson was represented at the sentencing hearing by public defender, Kevin Hill. He said his client suffered from drug addictions that ranged from marijuana, opiates and prescription drugs. “He has not addressed those addiction issues until this period of incarceration.” He said Jackson had never received any in-patient treatment.
Hill said Jackson was a hard worker but because of his addictions had trouble keeping a job.
Hill painted a picture of his client being a model inmate. He said Jackson was married, had three children and was a grandfather and all he wanted to do was get back to his family and be a productive member of society. He asked for leniency.
Jackson apologized to the judge: “I just want to say I am sorry.”
Stamm said it was good seeing Jackson sober. “You are going to die if you keep this up,” the judge said of Jackson’s long-term addictions.
But the judge also noted that the victims of crimes are often forgotten and he wasn’t going to allow that to happen. He ordered that Jackson and a co-defendant make restitution of more than $12,000 to the victims.
Jackson pled guilty to the theft charge on September 11th. In imposing the 10-year sentence, Judge Stamm gave Jackson credit for the 228 days he has been incarcerated locally since his latest arrest. Now Jackson will go up the road to serve his time in the state penal system, although the judge authorized Jackson’s eligibility to serve his time at Patuxent Institution, which has more facilities for addiction treatment.