A former local small business owner appeared in county court to answer for a series of thefts in Genesee County that he said was spurred by his addiction to heroin.
Jason D. Lang, 33, of Liberty Street, entered guilty pleas in June to two counts of grand larceny, 4th, related to thefts from Walmart and Target. The guilty plea satisfied a whole raft of similar charges.
Already in state custody on convictions in neighboring counties, Lang was told today his sentence on the local charges would be one-and-a-half to four years.
The sentences are concurrent to his previous sentence. Lang's attorney told Noonan that a parole board had already told Lang he would be released Sept. 5.
The new sentence throws that release date into doubt. The board will need to take into consideration Noonan's new sentence. At this point, it's unclear when Lang might be released.
"Mr. Lang is eager to return to his community and be productive again," said attorney Jon Wilson.
Lang has been in drug and alcohol treatment and Wilson said he's doing very well.
"He's committed himself to turning around his world," Wilson said.
Once the successful owner of Batavia Cab, Lang opened a smoke shop and tattoo parlor known as The Laughing Buddha. It may have been the first local shop, just prior to the 420 Emporium opening, to sell bath salts and synthetic marijuana.
In the Summer of 2012, when local law enforcement and emergency personnel were dealing with a series of peculiar incidents that seemed to stem from bath salt use, Lang was often in the news. He was arrested after imagining and reporting gunfire at a local hotel. He was also accused of impersonating a police officer.
In the midst of his legal troubles, and after his store was shut down and the cab company sold, his family organized a protest outside the 420 Emporium over that store's continued sale of bath salts. (Owner Charles Fitzgerald who owned other locations as well, is currently serving a federal prison term related to his trade in synthetic drugs.)
Lang reportedly kicked the bath salt habit, but then turned to heroin. He was accused of shoplifting from Hamburg to Victor, including in Batavia, during this period.
Wilson said his client has been in treatment at Lakeview since March and has completed both the drug and alcohol portions of the program.
When asked to speak, Lang was contrite.
"I'm sorry for the crimes I committed," Lang said. "I never would have did them if not for my heroin addiction. The past three years have been hard. I put the community through hell, my parents through hell, my children through hell. I'm really regretful for what I did."
Noonan reminded Lang that he wasn't the victim in this case and was in no mood to fashion a sentence that would guarantee Lang could keep his Sept. 5 parole date.
"Let that be the last time you blame heroin for your crimes," Noonan said. "Heroin didn't commit your crimes. You committed your crimes."
