Bath salts may have played a role in the criminal conduct of a former Batavia resident who admitted in October to possessing forged checks and who was sentenced in Genesee County Court today.
Richard Lee Matson, 30, will serve a four-month intermittent jail sentence and five years on probation as a result of his guilty plea.
Matson could have been sentenced up to seven years in prison.
As part of his guilty plea, Matson stipulated to $4,500 in restitution for his victims, but Public Defender Gary Horton objected to the restitution today because there was much less requested in actual claims filed through Genesee Justice.
Judge Robert C. Noonan said Matson will need to come back at a later date for a restitution hearing, giving the District Attorney's Office more time to collect restitution claims.
Horton, in arguing for the probation sentence, told Noonan that at the time Matson was involved with the forged checks, he was also using bath salts.
"We all are fairly familiar with the affect bath salts can have on someone's life," Horton said.
Horton added that Matson is a valued employee by his employer.
