2 plead guilty in County Court to drug crimes
ALBION – Two people pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court this morning to drug crimes.
Joseph Newton, 33, of Medina pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree and attempted promoting prison contraband in the first degree.
Newton faces up to four years in state prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 24.
He admitted in court today to having cocaine in Orleans County on Feb. 13 with the intent to sell it. He also admitted to stealing an outboard Mercury motor on Aug. 5, 2018, which was valued at about $1,200. Newton sold it for $1,000.
While he was an inmate, he attended a family funeral on May 21 and arranged to receive tobacco and a controlled substance.
Those items were allegedly placed under the body of a family member in her coffin. An investigator with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office overheard Newton arranging for the items during a phone call from the jail. The day of the funeral an investigator checked to see if the tobacco and two pills were under the grandmother’s body, and they were under her shoulder, according to investigator Ken Strickland.
Newton’s visit to the funeral was canceled and he was charged with attempted promoting prison contraband in the first and second degree.
In another case in court today, an Albion woman admitted to having precursors for making methamphetamine.
Linda Meise, 37, of Beechwood Boulevard at Oak Orchard Estates was charged on June 20, along with her husband Richard Meise.
Mrs. Meise admitted in court to having the precursors to make methamphetamine. She told Judge Sanford Church the couple made the meth for their own use.
She faces up to six months in jail when she is sentenced on Oct. 31 as a first-time felony offender.
Judge Church agreed today to lower her bail from $10,000 cash and $20,000 bond to $2,500.
