LAMBERTVILLE: Woman pleads guilty to taking cash to pay for drugs

   Cassandra Durkin, 22, of Hamilton, was sentenced on Feb. 28 by Superior Court Judge Stephen B. Rubin to three years’ probation and 364 days in the Hunterdon County Jail.
   Ms. Durkin, 22, pleaded guilty to a burglary in Lambertville, where she entered into her former employer’s business and took cash to support her drug habit, according to the prosecutor’s office.
   At the time of this crime, Ms. Durkin had been enrolled in a pretrial intervention (PTI) program for credit card theft. The victim in the credit card theft was her mother, and the proceeds were used to support Ms. Durkin’s drug habit, authorities said. She was terminated from the PTI program for the violation. Ms. Durkin had previously pleaded guilty to the credit card theft charge.
   Ms. Durkin also pleaded guilty to trying to cash a forged check from a Mercer County matter that was consolidated with the charges in Hunterdon County. Ms. Durkin allegedly tried to cash a forged check at a TD Bank in Mercer County when an alert bank teller became suspicious of the transaction.
   Ms. Durkin has been lodged in the Hunterdon County Jail since October awaiting a transfer to an in-patient drug treatment program. Ms. Durkin’s drug treatment program will be monitored as part of the three-year term of probation. Ms. Durkin has also been ordered to pay mandatory fines, penalties and restitution to the victims. If Ms. Durkin violates her probation, she faces up to five years in state prison for her third-degree crimes. Ms. Durkin was also sentenced to one fourth-degree crime, which has a maximum exposure of up to 18 months in state prison.
   According to Prosecutor Anthony Kearns III, “We hope Ms. Durkin completes her in-patient drug treatment program and takes the steps necessary to turn her life around. Those convicted of such crimes find that a period of incarceration, immediately followed by professional in-patient treatment, provide the best roadmap to recovery. The New Jersey Drug Court program continues to expand to meet the rise in crimes associated with drug addiction. Hunterdon County has a model drug court program and several treatment-based providers to assist those defendants with substance abuse issues.”
   Anonymous tips to law enforcement can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-321-0010 or by going to www.crimestoppershunterdon.com, or text messaging “HCTIPS” plus your tip message to 274637 (CRIMES). Tipsters can also download the free mobile app “Tipsubmit” and select Hunterdon County to submit anonymous tips via text messaging. All tips are anonymous and kept confidential.