Now that the five defendants in the Le Roy meth lab case are facing Federal charges, First Assistant District Attorney David Gann anticipates that the State charges filed against them will be dismissed.
The five defendants will be released to Federal supervision, and some of them will be released from county jail.
The first of the five to come up for potential release from county custody was Nathan D. Bernard, who appeared in County Court this morning.
Bernard is currently serving a 90-day sentence on a trespassing conviction. He is scheduled to be released March 6. At the request of Gann, Judge Robert C. Noonan released Bernard on his own recognices pending completion of his sentence.
Scheduled for appearances this afternoon are Kari L. Riggi and Joshua Miller. Riggi is currently in jail on $75,000. She is likely to be released this afternoon. Miller is already out of jail and under the supervision of Genesee County Justice. He is likely to be released to the supervision of Federal authorities.
Tomorrow, Koree R. Stephenson and Christopher J. Elmore are expected to appear in county court to begin the process of being released to Federal supervision, but in Elmore's case, he's also been charged with passing fake $10 bills.
Today, the State's case against Bernard was passed to the lower justice court, where the State charges can be dismissed. This is likely how the cases against the other five defendants will be handled.
Judge Noonan expressed an interest in having Bernard waive his right to have his case reviewed by a Grand Jury within six months of his arrest, but Gann didn't think that is necessary. If the Federal case is dismissed after that six month period, the DA's office won't be able to refile the State charges. After court, Gann said he is confident in the Federal case.
All five defendants arrested in connection with the suspected meth lab at 28 Clay St. in Le Roy were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree by the DA's office.
At the Federal level, all five where charged with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute or dispense 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Elmore faces the additional charge of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
