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Man sentenced for selling ecstasy to high school student
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...AGS9NO7D06.DTL
i bet the parents of the 16 yo girl had a high powered lawyer
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...AGS9NO7D06.DTL
(01-24) 15:47 PST REDWOOD CITY -- A San Mateo County judge today sentenced a 20-year-old man to nine years in prison for selling ecstasy to a South San Francisco High School student who subsequently tried to kill herself by overdosing on the drug.
Ezekiel Soto had faced between three and 10 years in prison under terms of a plea deal arranged in October, when he pleaded no contest to two drug-dealing charges, including an enhancement for dealing within 1,000 feet of a school.
Soto initially faced five drug-related charges as well as charges of conspiracy and driving on a suspended license and could have received up to 12 years in prison if convicted at a trial, attorneys in the case said.
He was accused of selling eight ecstasy pills in May 2006 to a 16-year-old high school girl using his 17-year-old girlfriend -- also a student at the school -- as an intermediary, prosecutors said. The 16-year-old girl attempted suicide by taking all eight pills at once and was hospitalized in intensive care before recuperating, according to prosecutors.
Soto was arrested the next day, when he was found with seven baggies of marijuana in his car, authorities said.
Prosecutors contend Soto had sold drugs to students at the school before.
Defense attorney Savas Loukedis called the lengthy sentence "disappointing," saying Soto had no prior drug convictions, was addicted to narcotics at the time, had cooperated with police and was remorseful. "He's a kid. He's only 20 years old," Loukedis said after leaving the courtroom. "I can't tell you how upset and sorry he is. When he found out what happened, he was horrified. He was completely honest and open with the police and cooperated fully. ... That cuts across the grain of this image of him as a sophisticated drug-dealer-type person"
Ezekiel Soto had faced between three and 10 years in prison under terms of a plea deal arranged in October, when he pleaded no contest to two drug-dealing charges, including an enhancement for dealing within 1,000 feet of a school.
Soto initially faced five drug-related charges as well as charges of conspiracy and driving on a suspended license and could have received up to 12 years in prison if convicted at a trial, attorneys in the case said.
He was accused of selling eight ecstasy pills in May 2006 to a 16-year-old high school girl using his 17-year-old girlfriend -- also a student at the school -- as an intermediary, prosecutors said. The 16-year-old girl attempted suicide by taking all eight pills at once and was hospitalized in intensive care before recuperating, according to prosecutors.
Soto was arrested the next day, when he was found with seven baggies of marijuana in his car, authorities said.
Prosecutors contend Soto had sold drugs to students at the school before.
Defense attorney Savas Loukedis called the lengthy sentence "disappointing," saying Soto had no prior drug convictions, was addicted to narcotics at the time, had cooperated with police and was remorseful. "He's a kid. He's only 20 years old," Loukedis said after leaving the courtroom. "I can't tell you how upset and sorry he is. When he found out what happened, he was horrified. He was completely honest and open with the police and cooperated fully. ... That cuts across the grain of this image of him as a sophisticated drug-dealer-type person"
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