Pubdate: Thu, 03 Jan 2008 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Copyright: 2008 The Palm Beach Post Contact: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333 Note: Does not publish letters from writers outside area Author: Larry Keller, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) 18-YEAR-OLD GETS BREAK IN DRUG SENTENCE WEST PALM BEACH -- Maybe Alexandria Severino is lucky that Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga is the father of two daughters only a bit older than her. On Wednesday, Labarga gave Severino, who turned 18 last week, a huge break, sentencing her to six years of probation and withholding adjudication on the three felony drug trafficking charges to which she had just pleaded guilty. That means she will have no felony convictions on her record. Labarga refused to accept an initial plea bargain that would have left Severino with a criminal record. "I'm not going to adjudicate this young girl," he said. "An adjudication would ruin her life." Severino, who attended West Boca High School, and her then-boyfriend, Matthew Hanyecz, 19, of Boca Raton, were charged last summer with multiple counts of trafficking in drugs. His case is still active. Severino pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in ecstasy and one count of trafficking in hydrocodone. A fourth count was dropped as part of the plea deal. The four trafficking charges stemmed from four separate transactions on four different days in which a confidential informant and undercover officers bought pills from Severino. Each charge carried a minimum mandatory sentence of three years and a maximum of 30 years in prison. Labarga sentenced Severino as a youthful offender. Severino's father, Frank, said after his daughter's arrest that she had been using the potent painkiller OxyContin at the time, but that he was unaware she was selling drugs to support her habit. The single dad accompanied his daughter to court. The judge told Alexandria Severino he and the state attorney's office "are sticking our necks out for you." He lectured her on the importance of meeting all conditions of her probation in order to avoid prison time. One of those conditions is that she have no contact with Hanyecz, who Labarga called "the boyfriend from hell." He admonished Severino: "He does not exist, do you understand that?" She said she did. Severino must pay more than $1,700 in court and prosecution costs and is prohibited from possessing or using drugs not prescribed for her. She will undergo random drug testing. And she will have to testify truthfully, if required, against others. Assistant State Attorney Caroline Shepherd, who called Hanyecz "the more culpable party" declined to say whether Severino might have to testify against anybody other than him. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath