NORWICH – There will be no more ‘get out of jail free’ cards for an Oxford woman who initially skirted prison by entering drug treatment court.
Kara L. Conklin, 39, will serve 3 1/2 years in state prison for her role in an illegal narcotics operation busted by police last year, based on a decision handed down Monday by Chenango County Court Judge W. Howard Sullivan.
“I have made bad choices in my life,” Conklin admitted, apologizing to both the court and her family for her misdeeds.
The woman’s legal woes began on May 20, 2010 when law enforcement officers from multiple agencies raided the Village of Oxford apartment she shared with 43-year-old John Serrano. A variety of narcotics, as well as paraphernalia used in the sale of drugs, were seized from the Greene Street address from which police say the couple sold drugs for approximately six months.
Both Conklin and Serrano were indicted in July of 2010 for third degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class B felony.
On Nov. 15 of last year, Conklin plead guilty third degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class B felony, and admitted to possessing 31 tablets of the prescription narcotic Oxycodone with the intent to sell. In a prearranged plea deal, she was sentenced to judicial diversion and ordered to complete Chenango County Drug Treatment Court.
The mother of four may have avoided jail time altogether - and been eligible to plead to a reduced charge - if she had been able to successfully complete the program. But in February, she tested positive for cocaine, prompting her expulsion from the diversion program and subsequent incarceration at the Chenango County Correctional Facility.
On July 25, Conklin plead guilty once again to the original charge on her indictment. This time there was no chance for judicial diversion. Judge Sullivan made it clear from the start that she would face prison time, and he wouldn’t recommend her for either the New York State Department of Corrections’ Willard or Shock Incarceration programs.
