Court rebuffs plea for leniency

By Scott North

Herald Writer

If a Machias teen-ager thought that it would be easy to turn back the clock on a burglary case that landed him in an adult prison, a hearing Thursday squashed that notion.

Frank Chimenti Jr., 18, in April was allowed to withdraw his plea to a first-degree burglary he committed in July 2000. Chimenti was 16 when the crime occurred.

Even so, he wound up with a five-year sentence in an adult prison because of separate state laws that automatically required him to be treated as an adult and to receive harsh punishment because firearms were stolen during the break-in.

Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Gerald Knight allowed Chimenti to withdraw his guilty plea after the teen’s lawyer presented records showing Chimenti was not correctly advised of how much punishment he could receive for his crime.

Prosecutors are not only appealing Knight’s decision on the plea, they also have told Chimenti’s attorney, Pete Mazzone of Everett, they intend to retry the case.

Chimenti this week was moved from prison to jail, where he was being held Thursday in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Mazzone asked that the teen be released to his father, who was ready to post $5,000 bail.

The judge declined. He noted that the court had set $10,000 bail when Chimenti was first arrested nearly two years ago. The case is again, legally, in the same place.

"You are back to square one," Knight said. "Square one is $10,000."

Chimenti’s case has attracted statewide attention at a time when the state Sentencing Guidelines Commission and others are reexamining some of the get-tough laws adopted in Washington in the mid-1990s. A bill considered but not passed in the Legislature this year would have given judges greater discretion in sentencing teens facing adult punishment.

You can call Herald Writer Scott North at 425-339-3431

or send e-mail to north@heraldnet.com.

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