3 Yrs NJSP in woman’s Newfield burglary
Saturday, September 28, 2013
press release September 27, 2013
Honesty Keener (DOB 2/27/76), formerly of Hazel Ave., Newfield NJ, was sentenced today (9/27) to three years in New Jersey state prison after her conviction for breaking into a neighbor’s home 4/28/11 and threatening to rub open sores she claimed were contagious on the neighbor’s adult daughter unless she received money.
Sentencing Keener on third-degree burglary, harassment and attempted theft jury verdicts returned 8/22/13, Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall also cited her record of seven prior indictable convictions since 1998, including four for prostitution, and 14 disorderly persons offenses.
Defense attorney Ron Appleby sought leniency for Keener, saying she had struggled with drugs that “took a toll on her” and that she had several children. Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Dana Anton noted that Keener did not have custody of her children and asked for a maximum five year sentence based on a record that also included several probation violations.
Concluding that prison was required, Judge Marshall said the maximum term was not warranted and that three years was “a sufficient sentence” if Keener responds to the drug abuse evaluation he ordered. He also sentenced Keener, who has been in jail since the incident, to time served on harassment and attempted theft.
