MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — A former Columbia University student who said he sold pot on campus to support his drug habit will be allowed to go to inpatient rehab for a year as an alternative to jail or probation in exchange for a clean criminal record, a Manhattan judge ruled Tuesday.
Christopher Coles, 21, is the only one of the five students arrested as part of "Operation Ivy League" in December 2010 to be approved for drug treatment as an alternative to jail or probation and a permanent felony record.
According to Coles' attorney, the former student sought help for his problem long before he was arrested on felony charges.
"He contacted Columbia University [counselors] on his own without knowing that he was going to be arrested a month later and said, 'I have a problem with marijuana. I want to stop smoking. My life is falling apart. My parents are not supporting me, they're disowning me,' " his attorney Marc Agnifilo argued Tuesday.
The Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor opposed Coles' admission into a drug treatment program as an alternative to other punishment.
"There's no indication that his smoking marijuana was a contributing factor to his seven marijuana sales," prosecutor Catherine Christian said Tuesday.
They also said he's failed several drug tests recently. Agnifilo said that is evidence of his continued problem that caused him in the past to sell drugs to feed his habit.
"He was smoking to the tune of 60, 70, 80 dollars a day," Agnifilo said. "That money had to come from somewhere. It wasn't coming from his parents."
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Ellen Coin agreed that drug treatment was an appropriate resolution in the case. If his treatment is successful he will not be saddled with a permanent criminal record.
"His history of substance abuse is a contributing factor [to his actions]," Coin said.
The judge ordered Coles back to court on Dec. 20 when the details of the arrangement will likely be finalized. His lawyer said he's likely to find a treatment center near his home in Maryland, where he's been living with his parents.
His parents, who have supported him since his arrest, may have to pay as much as $40,000 for the program.
