C7

MARY-ELLEN SAUNDERS
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

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HAMPTON - A 21-year-old man who went on a crime spree that included stealing duty counsel lawyer Al Lavine's car, will be on probation for the next 12 months.

"You've got the ball and you better start running with it," Judge Henrik Tonning said when handing down the sentence. "You have to understand if you fumble the ball on some fault of your own, you are going to be benched."

James Andrew Grenier, 21, of Passekeag, read a heart-felt apology to the court on Tuesday morning before the judge handed down his sentence.

"I need to apologize to those I wronged. Even though I did not know you, I violated you for my own needs and wants"¦ I was blind," Grenier said. "For those that have given up on me, I understand."

Grenier said he has tried to face his problems and cure his addiction to Dilaudid. He has entered the methadone program, attended Alcoholics Anonymous, and sought help from mental health.

"I finally feel I have hope for a future," he said. "A future worth living."

In February, Grenier pleaded guilty to a series of charges. He was released to his mother's custody and given some time to prove that he was willing to seek rehabilitation before he was sentenced.

On Dec. 18, Grenier stole Lavine's car in Hampton. The court heard Lavine stopped at the bank and left his car running. When he returned, his 2003 Mitsubishi was gone.

Grenier also pleaded guilty to stealing a car from the parking lot of a rehabilitation centre he was housed in. Grenier took the 1998 Chevrolet, which belonged to a carpenter, and drove it to the Saint John Correctional Centre with a friend. Police found the car there and arrested Grenier.

Grenier also pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a court order and failing to appear in court.

Tonning said he was impressed by Grenier's speech and the determination he had to get help for his drug addiction.

Tonning said the people that come to court every day get worn out seeing so many people with drug problems that can't get clean. He said the court does everything it can to try and help people but their hopes are usually dashed.

He said he sometimes wondered if the courts ever helped anyone, but Grenier is an example that they do.

"We have to chase people around to get them to do what you have done on your own," Tonning said. "You have a lot of potential and there is no reason to waste it on the drug trade." Tonning said the 12-month probation order is Grenier's last chance at rehabilitation.

Grenier was ordered to attend all courses and classes advised by his probation officer, abstain from taking any non-prescribed drugs or alcohol, continue the methadone program, continue counselling with mental health, take all medicine as prescribed, and provide his probation officer with the results of his regular drug tests.