[T]he parents of a Chittenden County deputy state’s attorney were sentenced to three years probation in Nebraska on Monday, nearly a year after police accused the couple of trying to bring 60 pounds of marijuana across the country to Vermont.
Patrick Jiron, 80, and Barbara Jiron, 70, the parents of Vermont prosecutor Justin Jiron, were sentenced this week in Nebraska’s York County District Court, after pleading no contest to one felony charge for possessing more than a pound of marijuana, according to a court official.
The husband and wife previously faced two additional charges, including a felony count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. But prosecutors dropped those charges ahead of sentencing, according to Angie Johnson, a York County court clerk.
When sheriff’s deputies in Nebraska stopped the Jirons, who reside in Clearlake Oaks, California, over a traffic violation on Dec. 19, they said they caught a strong whiff of marijuana.
Deputies said the marijuana seized from the car the couple was traveling in was worth about $336,000 on the street, according to a December report from the York News-Dispatch.
The couple reportedly told police the pot was for Christmas presents and said they didn’t know it was illegal to transport marijuana in Nebraska.
After the December incident, the couple was again arrested in Lancaster County Nebraska in January of 2018, according to a News-Dispatch report, allegedly traveling from Vermont to California. After being stopped for a traffic violation, law enforcement officers say they found $16,000 in cash that was believed to be “drug buy money,” the newspaper reported.
The Jirons faced up to two years in prison on the marijuana possession charge, but the judge presiding over the case, James Stecker, considered that the couple didn’t have prior criminal records, according to the News-Dispatch.
“You are 80 years old, a veteran, you are also retired and you have no prior record,” Stecker said to Patrick Jiron, the newspaper reported. “What the court can’t reconcile is the quantity you were transporting – that’s much more than for individual consumption and the court doesn’t believe you didn’t know the law.”
Justin Jiron declined to comment Tuesday on the resolution of his parents’ case.
After authorities charged the Jiron couple last year, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George released a statement defending her deputy.
“Justin, of course, loves his parents and is concerned about their welfare. However, he is extremely disappointed in their actions and behavior as reported by news outlets,” George wrote.
“As public servants, we understand that the decisions and mistakes of our family members can impact the community’s trust in us, but at the end of the day, we can only control our own choices and not those of our families.”
Court documents indicate the Jirons will be serving out their probation in California.
