Submitted by Howard Owens on January 4, 2013 - 2:37pm
One of the people who reportedly got involved with bath salts over the summer and wound up getting in trouble with the law has decided to entrust his fate to a local jury rather than accept a plea deal.
Because 32-year-old Bradley J. Broadbent has a prior violent felony conviction, the best deal District Attorney Lawrence Friedman could offer the Batavia resident was a minimum of five years in prison with a guilty plea to attempted burglary, 2nd, a Class D felony.
Broadbent was indicted by a grand jury on three counts of criminal mischief in the fourth degree, criminal trespass, burglary in the second degree and petit larceny.
On July 6, Broadbent was talked down off the roof of a house on Hutchins Street [1]. He was reportedly hallucinating and suffering from a high body temperature.
He was suspected of damaging bathrooms at a business complex on Liberty Street earlier that day, and after leaving the UMMC emergency room, he allegedly entered a house on Tracy Avenue without permission.
At the time, Broadbent was suspected of using bath salts and family members were upset [2], suspecting his use of bath salts started after the 420 Emporium opened at 400 Ellicott St.
According to Broadbent's sister, Melissa, Bradley was on a good, positive path prior to starting bath salt use.
In court today, Judge Robert Noonan granted a brief recess so attorneys could research Broadbent's criminal record and confirm that a guilty plea would indeed make him a second felony offender.
Broadbent was released from prison 10 years and six months before his arrest in July on his 1986 conviction for burglary, 2nd. Documents available in court prior to the recess didn't include the two years he spent in prison on an unrelated conviction in Batavia City Court a few years ago. If Broadbent had not been in jail or prison during the 10 years and six months after his original prison term, he would not be considered a second violent felony offender for the purpose of sentencing on the new charges.
The top charge against Broadbent is a Class C felony and carries a mandatory minimum sentence, if he's convicted, of seven years and a maximum of 15 years in state prison.
