FRIENDS TESTIFY AGAINST SAWIN

PITTSFIELD -- Hoping to have their own school-zone drug charges dropped in
exchange for testimony against Kyle W. Sawin, two of his friends took the
witness stand in Superior Court yesterday to say that Sawin was a key
drug dealer in Great Barrington last year.

The testimony of John Rybacki, 18, and Justin Cronin, 19, both former
classmates of Sawin at Monument Mountain High School, testified that they
bought marijuana at various times from Sawin in the high school parking
lot, at the Price Chopper parking lot, at the Cumberland Farms store,
Friendly's, Kmart, or at Lake Mansfield.

'Nagging' from officer The testimony of Rybacki and Cronin was damaging to
Sawin, and was elicited to rebut his own testimony earlier in the day, when
he described his heavy addiction to marijuana and his susceptibility to
pressure from undercover Police Officer Felix Aguirre, who he said did
"persistent nagging." His lawyer has asserted an "entrapment defense,"
which seeks to show that her client would not have been inclined to sell
drugs were it not for Aguirre's pressure. In turn, the prosecution is
trying to counter her claim, by showing his predisposition toward drug
dealing with other people. But defense attorney Judith Knight was also able
to cut through Rybacki's and Cronin's testimony to bring a key issue to the
jury's attention: the two-year minimum mandatory sentence for convictions
on drug violations in school zones, which Sawin is facing. He is charged
with three counts of distributing marijuana, and three counts of
distributing within 1,000 feet of a school. In theory, a jury's
deliberations can be influenced by knowing the consequences of conviction,
so testimony about sentencing is typically withheld. But Knight was
allowed to probe the motive for their testimony, and both candidly admitted
they hoped that the prosecutors in their own cases would reward them by
dropping the school-zone charges.

18 caught in sting A total of 18 people were charged in connection with
last year's drug sting in Great Barrington; Sawin's is the first case to go
to trial. Under questioning by prosecutor Richard Locke, both young men
denied they had been promised anything in exchange for their testimony.
Cronin said he had gone with his lawyer, William Rota, to police shortly
after his arrest last Sept. 17 -- the day police began rounding up suspects
after the summer-long drug sting -- to give a statement against others
involved in the sting.

Rybacki said he went to police July 11, the day before Sawin's trial began.
Both Rybacki and Cronin had been arrested and charged with selling
marijuana in a school zone.

All of the teens are charged with selling marijuana to an undercover police
officer, Aguirre, during the summer of 2004, in and around the Taconic
parking lot in Great Barrington.

Sawin, of Otis, testified earlier in the day, and under questioning by
Knight, described developing a drug problem as a young teen in Lee. He was
using cocaine, ecstasy, OxyContin and marijuana, he said.

After speaking with his parents, he said, they agreed he would switch to
Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington. Eventually he
was able to give up the "harder" drugs, he said, but kept smoking
marijuana. Calming effect "Throughout my life, I was a pretty high-strung
kid," he said. "It made it hard to pay attention, and the marijuana helped
to calm me down." His marijuana use picked up in the late spring of 2004
and into the summer, he said, although he was able to work as a landscaper
and help in the family business, The Other Brother Darryl's wholesale and
retail seafood business. During summer, he gravitated into the Taconic
parking lot, he said, where the social scene was lively and people would
meet up daily; he said he wanted to "fit in," and was eventually smoking
six or seven times a day, spending $250 per week on marijuana.

He described his encounters with Aguirre, then known as "Jose," a man he
said seemed older and extremely persistent about wanting to buy drugs. At
first, said Sawin, he said no to Aguirre, and he denied selling marijuana
to him on June 30, 2004, when Aguirre said he, Sawin and two other people
climbed into a car in the parking lot to swap drugs for money. "I'm not
accusing anyone of lying, but there must be some kind of mistake," said
Sawin. "That transaction did not occur with me in that vehicle." Police
testimony shows photos of Sawin after two other deals took place, on July 6
and Sept. 3, but no photo was produced for June 30. Sawin admitted to the
drug deals with Aguirre on July 6 and Sept. 3. "He always approached me. I
never approached him," said Sawin of Aguirre. He said he often rebuffed
Aguirre, but Aguirre kept coming back. Key witness barred Sawin lost a key
witness yesterday whose testimony was precluded after early morning
arguments before Judge John Agostini. After hearing testimony from
psychotherapist Maro R. Hall, a substance abuse and addiction counselor who
was treating Sawin in early 2004, Agostini ruled that she could not be
designated as an expert witness because her training, while extensive, did
not qualify her to testify on medical research related to addiction. He
said Knight had also failed to show how Sawin's drug treatment played into
his defense.

Laurie Sawin, Sawin's mother, was also set to testify, but did not. Today,
the case will go to the jury for deliberations after closing arguments,
which begin at 10 a.m.