Charles Smith and John Perrone, the duo arrested in Harbin last fall for the manufacture of the illegal hallucinogenic drug DMT in Smith’s room, were sentenced Friday to three years of probation and 200 hours each of community service.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly initially gave Smith and Perrone six months in jail, but suspended the sentence in favor of three years probation, in accordance with the suggestions of both the prosecution and defense attorneys.

According to authorities, the two made about a gram of DMT before being discovered, and Harbin Hall was evacuated due to the feared explosive nature of the ingredients.

Smith, formerly a Georgetown freshman, told the court that his actions were “regrettable and wrong” and promised not to break the law again. The judge also reprimanded Smith for his regular use of marijuana and told him he needed to concentrate on addressing that problem.

In federal court yesterday, Charles Smith and John Perrone plead guilty to manufacturing DMT in Smith’s Harbin dorm room last October.

Perrone admitted during the hearing that he purchased the supplies needed to make the hallucinogenic drug, while Smith agreed to pay half of the cost. Although they didn’t plan to sell the drug, they did plan to share it with friends. Before their arrest on the morning of Oct. 25, they produced a gram of DMT — about 10 hits worth.

“I have never consumed DMT in my life, didn’t get that far,” Perrone said during the hearing, according to the AP.

Lawyers agreed that Smith and Perrone should be sentenced to six months in jail. Instead of serving that jail time, as per the agreement, the two men will do community service and go on probation. The two men will be sentenced on Mar. 18.

According to University spokesperson Julie Green Bataille, Smith is no longer enrolled at Georgetown. He was previously enrolled as a freshman in the School of Foreign Service.

Photo: Arthur Lien, h/t AP

At D.C. District Court this afternoon, Charles Smith (SFS ’14) and John Perrone, a freshman at the University of Richmond, were released under parental custody to their homes in Andover, Massachusetts.

Smith and Perrone will stand trial in court on January 24 for conspiracy to manufacture and possession with intent to distribute DMT, a hallucinogenic drug.

According to Washington City Paper, who spoke with the attorneys defending Smith and Perrone before the hearing, both college students are “very young kids from good families who’ve done some good things.”

Read the rest of this entry »