WESTFIELD – Roy Ramonas had his day in court on Wednesday and, when Judge Philip Contant banged his gavel, Ramonas was heading to jail and Contant had adjudicated ten charges brought by three different police forces stemming from five different incidents.
Roy V. Ramonas Jr., 21, of 20 Murray Ave., had been charged with offenses ranging from leaving the scene of a property damage accident to possession of heroin with intent to distribute and was sentenced to five concurrent jail terms and assessed a total of $290. He will be on probation until late in 2014.
The longest jail term imposed, two and a half years (the maximum sentence possible in district court), was a result of a charge of possession of a Class A drug with intent to distribute brought by Westfield police when he was arrested in September, 2011.
At that time, a city detective had followed Ramonas to an apartment in a Holyoke complex occupied by a known narcotics dealer.
When Ramonas returned to Westfield, his vehicle was stopped and he was found to be in possession of fifty small packets of heroin.
Ramonas pleaded guilty to that charge and Contant ordered that he serve half of the sentence imposed for that crime, 18 months, direct and suspended the balance with probation until Dec. 14, 2014. He also assessed $150 in court fees.
At the time of his arrest, Ramonas told officers investigating a separate complaint alleging that he had stolen pain relief pills prescribed for another person who lives at his address that he had stolen the pills and sold them to get the money he needed to buy the heroin he was found with.
He was charged with larceny of a drug and larceny of property valued less than $250.
The larceny of a drug charge was not prosecuted but he pleaded guilty to the larceny charge and was sentenced to a one year concurrent jail term.
Earlier in the year, in July, Ramonas had been charged by Southwick after he was arrested in Westfield while in possession of eight aluminum automobile wheels which had been stolen from a Southwick scrap metal dealer.
The scrap yard had installed a security camera after similar thefts and the images from the camera were liked to a computer at the Southwick police department.
Shortly before Ramonas was arrested the Southwick dispatcher had watched the monitor and had seen two persons, one of whom fit Ramonas’ description, steal aluminum wheels like the ones found when he was arrested.
Ramonas pleaded guilty to charges of larceny of property valued more than $250 and trespass.
Contant imposed a one year sentence, concurrent with the heroin sentence, for the larceny charge and a 30 day concurrent sentence for the charge of trespass.
As a result of an altercation between Ramonas and a neighbor in April, Ramonas had been charged by Westfield police with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of property.
Ramonas pleaded guilty to those charges and Contant enjoined him from making any threats or violence to the victim of his crime and assessed a $90 fee. He also ordered Ramonas to make restitution in an amount to be determined and placed him on probation for three years.
The oldest of Ramonas’ crimes that Contant adjudicated resulted from a November, 2011, incident in Montgomery which resulted in charges of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of a property damage accident which were filed by State Police from the Russell barracks.
Ramonas pleaded guilty to those charges and he was assessed $50 and sentenced to an additional one year concurrent term in the house of correction.
