Despite previous warnings, an Oak Bluffs man will remain on probation after appearing in Superior Court Tuesday for allegedly violating his probation.
In October, Daniel A. Ben David, 50, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to charges of unarmed robbery and larceny more than $250 for his part in a 2011 theft of $85,000 from an Oak Bluffs man in his seventies.
Mr. Ben David and Stanley Johnson, 52, were accused of breaking into the man’s home and stealing a safe containing $85,000 along with personal documents and prized possessions. Mr. Johnson was found guilty and sentenced to between five and seven years in state prison, but Mr. Ben David avoided jail time, with prosecution saying that he had helped with the prosecution of Mr. Johnson, and had already returned a large portion of the money he took.
Hon. Cornelius J. Moriarty 2nd, associate justice of the Superior Court, sentenced Mr. Ben David to four years of probation and ordered him to pay full restitution along with Mr. Johnson.
“I give you good warning, sir, if found to violate terms of probation you are going to spend an awfully long time in state prison,” Mr. Moriarty told Mr. Ben David in October.
In December, Mr. Ben David was arraigned in Edgartown District Court on a charge of assault and battery. Mr. Ben David was back in court on Tuesday before a different judge for that probation violation, but remained out of jail. He was ordered to wear a GPS monitor and to continue paying restitution. Other terms of probation were not available.
“I’ll tell you right now I’m not impressed with his track record when he’s on probation,” Superior Court justice Robert C. Rufo said, emphasizing that Mr. Ben David is facing a state prison sentence.
Mr. Ben David’s lawyer, Robert Hofmann, said a substantial amount of restitution has been paid back, with payments of $500 a month, and Mr. Ben David understands his situation.
The proceeding was continued until May 28, and Judge Rufo said that if there were any other violations, he would issue a warrant for Mr. Ben David’s arrest.
In other Superior Court business Tuesday, a Dukes County grand jury indicted a Worcester man on cocaine trafficking charges.
John J. Polydores, 30, was indicted on one count of trafficking cocaine, 36 to 100 grams and one count of operating a motor vehicle after license suspension.
Mr. Polydores was arraigned in October in Edgartown District Court after police allegedly found 52 grams of cocaine at the Edgartown home where he was staying.
According to the police report filed in court at the time, members of the Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force became aware that Mr. Polydores would allegedly be bringing cocaine to the Island, and that he had an active warrant out of Worcester superior court for failing to appear for probation.
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