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Chelsea Carpentier, 22, of Franklin, NH, and her co-defendant, 23-year-old Michael Provenzano of Deerfield, NH, each pleaded guilty today to charges arising from a May 17 arrest in Ridgefield, where they were caught with drugs and a .45-caliber Hi-Point semiautomatic handgun.
Provenzano told Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian that he agreed to drive Carpentier to New Jersey to swap the weapon knowing that he was breaking the law.
As a result, Provenzano will be sentenced to time served — the month he spent in the Bergen County Jail before being bailed out — and 18 months probation in exchange for pleading guilty to conspiracy.
Carpentier, meanwhile will take the weight — five years in state prison, under the Graves Act, for second-degree possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose.
Carpentier, who’s been held on $75,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail the past seven months, will have to spend a year behind bars before she’s eligible for parole, under the sentence that Jerejian said that he’ll impose on Feb. 7.
Carpentier originally faced six counts: possession of heroin or cocaine, two counts of conspiracy and a trio of weapons charges — possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of a handgun with no permit and illegal transportation or sale of a weapon.
Provenzano was also charged with the drug and conspiracy counts, as well as unlawful possession of a handgun and transporting a handgun into New Jersey for unlawful sale.
The remaining charges were dismissed as part of the respective plea agreements.
STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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