Posted on 02/02/2004 2:14:36 PM PST by Wolfie
Gore's Son Given Probation on Marijuana Charge
Rockville, Md. -- Albert Gore III will have to complete a substance abuse program under an agreement approved Monday by a judge presiding over a marijuana possession case against the son of former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore.
Montgomery County District Court Judge Mary McCormick put Albert Gore III's case on an inactive docket for a year, at which point the case will be dropped if Gore meets certain requirements.
Those include submitting to 12 weeks of urine testing, community service and substance abuse counseling sessions. Gore also can't have a criminal conviction during that year.
Gore, who did not comment after the brief hearing, was accompanied by his mother, Tipper Gore, who did not comment other than saying the issue was a "private matter."
A student at Harvard University, Gore, 21, was arrested Dec. 19, 2003 in Bethesda after an officer pulled him over for driving a Cadillac without its headlights on. The officer smelled marijuana and noticed the windows of the car were open despite frigid temperatures.
A search of the Cadillac turned up a partial marijuana cigarette, a cigarette box with suspected marijuana in it and a crushed soda can that smelled like marijuana.
Gore was charged with marijuana possession, as were the two passengers in the car, Yann V. Kumin, 21, and Marc G. Hordon, 22, both of Cambridge, Mass. All three were released before trial.
Hordon and Kumin will also have their cases placed on the inactive docket and undergo the same treatment program as Gore, according to Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas Gansler.
He said there was no favoritism shown Gore because of his family's political stature. The substance abuse diversion program is standard for first-time drug offenders, he said.
"Regardless of who the defendant is ... we treat them in the exact same way," Gansler said.
The younger Gore has been pulled over by police two other times in recent years. He was ticketed by military police in September 2002 outside Fort Myer in suburban Virginia for driving under the influence.
North Carolina police also cited Gore in the summer of 2000 for driving 97 mph in a 55-mph zone. Charges against him were dropped under an agreement with prosecutors, but he had to pay a $125 ticket and had his driving privileges suspended in the state.
Reportedly this isn't his first drug offense.
In other words, just like Noelle Bush.
No argument there. For one thing, it can't search for words having less than 4 letters.
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