MURPHY SKIRTS JAIL IN PLEA DEAL EX-OFFICIAL ADMITS GUILT IN DRUG, CHILD-ENDANGERMENT CASE.Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer PASADENA - Former Burbank City Councilwoman Stacey Murphy avoided jail time by pleading Asking a court to grant relief. The formal presentation of claims and defenses by parties to a lawsuit. The specific papers by which the allegations of parties to a lawsuit are presented in proper form; specifically the complaint of a plaintiff and the answer of a defendant plus any guilty Thursday to drug and child-endangerment charges in a case connected to the Vineland Boys street gang. During a hearing in Pasadena Superior Court, Murphy, 47, answered ``yes'' to questions from prosecutor Thomas Krag about whether she understood the charges against her. As part of the deal, she will enter a drug-rehabilitation program, take parenting classes and be monitored by the court for five years, officials said. ``This is an appropriate resolution for a defendant who was a leader in the community, but whose drug use clouded her judgment and put her young son's life in potential danger,'' Krag said in a prepared statement. Murphy and her lawyer, Rick Santwier, declined to comment. Murphy was ordered to return to court Feb. 22 to offer proof she has enrolled in the programs. If she fails to complete the counseling classes, she could be sentenced to three years in state prison on the drug charge and up to six months in jail on the child-endangerment charge, Krag said. If she completes the diversion programs A diversion program in the criminal justice system is a program run by a district attorney's office designed to enable offenders of criminal law (usually minor offenses) to avoid criminal charges [1][2]. , she can petition the court to have the case dismissed in 18 months and removed from her record. Murphy was arrested July 13 in a case connected to the Vineland Boys. More than 40 members of the gang are awaiting trial in a federal racketeering Traditionally, obtaining or extorting money illegally or carrying on illegal business activities, usually by Organized Crime . A pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an enterprise that is owned or controlled by those who are engaged in the illegal activity. case, accused of drug dealing, assaults, robberies and murders, including the 2003 slaying of Burbank police Officer Matthew Pavelka. The rookie rookie a novice; often an athlete playing his first season as a member of a professional sports team. [Sports: Misc.] See : Inexperience officer's death prompted a massive manhunt man·hunt n. An organized, extensive search for a person, usually a fugitive criminal. manhunt Noun an organized search, usually by police, for a wanted man or fugitive Noun 1. by local, state and federal authorities to track down the killer, a suspected member of the gang. Investigators linked Murphy's longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective boyfriend, Scott Schaffer, to the case in June, when they found one of his guns - an Uzi semiautomatic pistol - in the dresser drawer of a Vineland Boys gang member. On July 13, police seized more handguns, ammunition, methamphetamine methamphetamine (mĕth'ămfĕt`əmēn): see amphetamine; methedrine. and cocaine at Schaffer's Glendale home. In an eight-hour taped interrogation interrogation In criminal law, process of formally and systematically questioning a suspect in order to elicit incriminating responses. The process is largely outside the governance of law, though in the U.S. with Burbank police, Schaffer admitted trading guns for cocaine, said he stored more guns at Murphy's home and revealed that she kept cocaine in the bedroom closet. Schaffer also told detectives he and Murphy bought cocaine at a North Hollywood bar known as a gang hangout hang·out n. Slang A frequently visited place. Noun 1. hangout - a frequently visited place haunt, stamping ground, resort, repair . Murphy knew that two of the men he was trading guns with were Vineland Boys, he told police. Schaffer has pleaded guilty to one count of trading two guns to a member of the Vineland Boys for cocaine. Free on $1 million bond, he is due in court in June to be sentenced to at least five years in federal prison. He has also been ordered into a drug-rehabilitation program. During a search of Murphy's Lima Street home, police found three guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and two bags of cocaine. She was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment because the guns were accessible to her 12-year-old son. After the arrest, Murphy said in an open letter to the city that she would not attend council meetings until after her court date and would keep up with city business from home. She said she intended to finish out her term, which would have ended in 2009. But on Aug. 30, seven days after she was charged with felony felony (fĕl`ənē), any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor, that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common law. cocaine possession and misdemeanor misdemeanor, in law, a minor crime, in contrast to a felony. At common law a misdemeanor was a crime other than treason or a felony. Although it might be a grave offense, it did not affect the feudal bond or take away the offender's property. By the 19th cent. child endangerment, she resigned. In another open letter, she wrote that the charges she faced were a ``distraction'' to the business of the city. ``This is not an easy decision for me personally,'' she wrote. ``However, for the best interests of our city, and my children, it is the right thing to do. Our council has many important issues facing it at this time. The distractions caused by my personal issues should not be a factor that the council should have to deal with.'' Jason Kandel, (818) 546-3306 jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Former Burbank City Councilwoman Stacey Murphy, who pleaded guilty to drug possession and child endangerment in a case involving a street gang, leaves court after an earlier hearing. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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