cannabisnews.com: Student Gets Second Chance in Pot Brownie Case 





Student Gets Second Chance in Pot Brownie Case 
Posted by FoM on March 10, 2000 at 13:54:00 PT
By Lisa Taylor, Staff Writer 
Source: News-Times Online
David Anthony Fredenburg, 17, a former honor student and athlete at Croatan High School, was given a second chance Wednesday when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug offense in lieu of a felony charge of distributing marijuana-laced brownies at an end-of-school party his junior year. 
The young man, who was suspended from Croatan and is in his senior year at a Virginia military academy, was ordered to pay $5,000 restitution to a teacher who ate one of the brownies and must perform 96 hours of community service work, spend 48 hours in jail and write letters of apology. He and a group of classmates collected money for the marijuana, which the defendant bought and baked into a batch of brownies and carried to school last year. When the brownies were passed around, teacher Michelle Marie Meyer inadvertently got one, unaware that the snacks were tainted. She became ill and went to the hospital later in the day. When a blood test showed she had marijuana in her system, authorities began back-tracking and discovered what had happened. In court Wednesday with his parents and attorney Roger Crowe, the youth told Judge Ben Alford and others that he was sorry for his actions and that ``it definitely won't happen again.'' Mr. Crowe said his client is the top student in his class at the military academy and was a Governor's School nominee, served on Teen Court, was accepted at the N.C. School of the Arts and garnered many other honors while at Croatan High School. After the incident, the teen's mother, who now teaches at Croatan, and his father forced him to sell his car to pay $5,000 restitution to the teacher for medical and other expenses. ``His parents have stood by him, but have let him bear all the responsibility,'' Mr. Crowe said, adding that the parents also forced their son to take random drug and alcohol tests. ``Anthony is a good kid,'' Mr. Crowe said. ``He's done something wrong. He understands this judgment is a tough judgment.'' The teen was allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana, but the felony charge can be reinstated, with a minimum 10-month prison term, if he does not abide by the terms of the misdemeanor judgment. He was ordered to serve 45 days in jail, but that was suspended for 18 months provided he spends 48 hours in the county jail, performs 96 hours of community service work, writes letters of apology to be published in the Croatan High School newspaper and The News-Times, and submits himself to Neuse Mental Health Center for a substance abuse assessment. ``It is one thing to sit around and think of something stupid,'' District Attorney David McFadyen said. ``But he's the one who collected the money, he went to Atlantic Beach to buy the pot, he bought the brownie mix and he made the brownies in his home. He was the catalyst in the plan.'' The district attorney said he talked to the teacher and worked with her on the stipulations of the plea arrangement. ``It was through her grace that he was allowed to enter this plea,'' Mr. McFadyen said. He said that the teen's exceptional school record and the belief by his teacher that he deserved a second chance were the only things that kept the defendant from facing the felony prison term. ``The ball is in his court,'' Mr. McFadyen said. ``He is being given substantial opportunity to prove that this was a single act.'' ``The state of North Carolina has handed you a gift,'' Judge Alford told the teen after he accepted the plea arrangement. He praised the young man's parents for their support and for the tough restrictions they placed on their son. ``Your parents are giving you good counsel and a lot of love,'' Judge Alford told Mr. Fredenburg. ``Take advantage of that. There are a lot of young people coming through school who don't have that. ``Your mother and father's influence stops at a certain age, and your friends take over. Be sure you take a long, hard look at where your friends are taking you. Life is full of choices, and you need to stop and think about the ramifications of your choices.''Beaufort:Published: March 10, 2000Copyright 2000 Carteret Publishing Co., Inc. Related Articles:High Student Charged with Putting MJ in Brownieshttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread1649.shtmlShared 'Funny-Tasting' Brownies Don't Amuse http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3375.shtmlGoogle Search For CannabisNews - Updated! Now Over 6500 Articles:http://www.google.com/search?q=cannabisnews&sa=Google+Searchhttp://www.google.com/search?output=washingtonpost&q=cannabisnews&Go.x=20&Go.y=12
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