A 37-year-old Comfort resident, Joseph Allen Nezat Jr., was sentenced to 29 years in state prison Tuesday afternoon for distributing what the judge called the nation’s true pandemic: methamphetamine.
Nezat was facing three third-degree felony charges with enhanced punishment ranges and a first-degree felony for manufacture and distribution of meth, which carries a punishment range of five to 99 years in prison. However, Kendall County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Manuel Cardenas, who handles most drug cases in the 451st District Court, agreed to limit the punishment to 15 to 35 years as a condition of Nezat’s open plea.
Nezat’s three third-degree felony charges included the unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a prohibited weapon – a gun silencer– and hindering the apprehension of a known felon. Nezat actively worked to prevent law enforcement agents from arresting his father, who is being charged in the 451st District Court with continuous sexual assault of a child, court documents stated.
Cardenas sought the 35-year maximum agreed to by the prosecution and defense, citing Nezat’s “robust criminal history” of assault charges and driving infractions. However, defense attorney Chris Griffith tried to lessen Nezat’s sentence by calling several witnesses, including Nezat himself, who testified the defendant changed his ways significantly after the birth of his now 1-year-old daughter.
“The person I was, was just kind of a cold person, and I don’t want my daughter to end up being with someone like that or even know that person that I used to be,” Nezat said while on the stand. “That was kind of what sparked the change in me. Not really the jail or prison. I’ve been to prison before. And more than anything, knowing and coming to realization that my daughter is going to wind up someday seeking someone that is similar to me, opened my eyes to a whole other world that I didn’t even realize I guess until she was born.”
Nezat’s wife also was called to the stand. She said she was unaware that Nezat had been using cocaine, marijuana and meth weekly for nearly a decade. Additionally, his wife said he had changed drastically since the birth of his daughter, becoming more of a family man and spending more active time with his children.
However, Cardenas pointed out a double standard in Nezat’s reasoning for becoming a better citizen, reminding him that he’d had a son during several years of this behavior and that he was arrested for his current charges while his wife was pregnant with their daughter. Further, Cardenas asked Nezat if he would want a man who choked his daughter or held a gun to her head – as Nezat had previously been convicted of doing both to two different women – to face consequences if he were arrested again. Nezat agreed he would want such a man to face consequences.
After all the witnesses left the stand and the prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments, 451st District Court Judge Kirsten Cohoon took roughly 15 minutes to consider the sentencing in her chambers.
She addressed Nezat directly upon her return to the 451st District courtroom.
“Mr. Nezat, I so want to believe that trajectory of your life has changed,” Cohoon said before handing down Nezat’s sentence. “But I’m going to take your word. I don’t need a drug test. You’re going to prison today. Nothing is going to change that. It’s just how long. And I’m going to believe that if I drug tested you, it would be negative. Your current use or lack thereof is not what concerns me with the crimes that I’m about to assess the punishment on.
“It’s weapons and intent to deliver of what I consider to the be the worst plague on our society. COVID’s whatever. Meth is the real pandemic that we suffer as a society, and you carry it around in your pocket and delivered it. That’s a problem for society. So, I’m going to ask you to rise.”
Cohoon sentenced Nezat to 29 years, but he may qualify for parole when his time served and good conduct time reach 25 percent of his sentence, which is just over seven years.
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