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Judge defers proceedings, places Aaron Roberts on 5-year probation and orders $33,204.98 restitution
Summary
A Jefferson County judge deferred adjudication for Aaron Roberts, placing him on five yearsprobation and ordering $33,204.98 in restitution after defense and prosecution arguments about his history and ability to repay.
A Jefferson County judge on Monday deferred adjudication for Aaron Roberts, placing him on five years of probation and ordering restitution of $33,204.98 for theft-related charges. The judge told Roberts the court would expect monthly payments and documentation of tax refunds and other income to be turned over to probation.
The judge said, "I'm going to find that you entered your plea of guilty freely and voluntarily, find sufficient evidence to find you guilty, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to defer all proceedings and place you on probation for 5 years." The judge added that the probation would be "0 tolerance" and required monthly payments toward restitution.
Mister Lane, the defense attorney, asked the court to defer proceedings and emphasized Roberts's family and recent job difficulties; "we're asking the court to defer all proceedings for 5 years and place mister Roberts on probation and to order the 33,000 of restitution," Lane told the court. Mister Coleman, the prosecutor, opposed full leniency, noting Roberts had a prior deferred probation and warning that repeat felony conduct could result in prison.
The judge detailed payment expectations: she said even partial monthly payments would be required and warned that waiting until the end of probation and then attempting to pay a lump sum could still lead to revocation and prison. She ordered community service and compliance with all other probation conditions; failure to comply could result in revocation and entry of the underlying conviction. The court handed Roberts the trial court certification memorializing that he had waived appeal rights under the plea agreement.
The judge also discussed the effect a conviction would have on Roberts's employment prospects and advised that probation filings and tax-refund documentation would be used to monitor restitution payments. Probation was instructed to follow up on paperwork immediately.
Less critical details: Roberts told the court he had recently lost a job and had a young child with health issues; defense counsel said Roberts would try to make a $2,000 good-faith payment. The judge allowed Roberts to remain out on deferment under the ordered conditions and set no immediate separate incarceration. Probation will advise Roberts of reporting and payment steps.
