An earlier version of this article gave a different first name for the sentencing judge.
NORTHAMPTON — A 67-year-old Northampton man was arraigned and sentenced to probation Monday in Hampshire Superior Court for his role in the theft of gold jewelry from a downtown store.
Samuel Lewis Jackson was arraigned on a charge of larceny over $1,200 by a common and notorious thief. The charge stems from an incident at Silverscape Designs in October, where Jackson stole two gold necklaces from displays while looking at engagement rings. The necklaces had a retail value of $3,240 and $3,595.
The thefts were caught on video by the store, and only one necklace was recovered.
The crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in state prison or 2½ years in jail. Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne said that at first he was prepared to ask that Jackson serve significant prison time. But then he got input on Jackson’s case from those involved with the addiction recovery community.
“It changed my perspective on this case,” he said.
Gagne said that he learned that Jackson had not wanted to take medication prescribed to him to deal with pain from a knee surgery, and that this caused him to return to opioid addiction. Gagne gave drug addiction as the likely reason for Jackson’s theft, and noted that he had a small amount of heroin on him at the time of his arrest. He also said that he learned that Jackson was involved in getting the Northampton Recovery Center at 2 Gleason Plaza up and running by a member of the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
Gagne also said that Jackson did not threaten or harm anyone in the course of the crime.
“This is what happens when someone is in the throes of drug addiction,” said John Drake, Jackson’s defense attorney.
Jackson chose to waive his right to receive an indictment from a grand jury and instead pleaded guilty to a prosecutor’s complaint. The agreed-upon joint disposition, which Silverscape Designs was also notified of, saw Jackson sentenced to two years probation. It also required him to provide restitution to Silverscape of no more than $3,019. He is also required to remain drug and alcohol-free. He was sentenced by Judge Richard Carey.
“If he squanders this chance I’ll probably be back before the court asking for something very different to happen to Mr. Jackson,” Gagne said.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.