CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield woman will be spending time in state prison for possessing a gun and selling cocaine.
Ashley Marie Kirk, 27, 212 E. Cherry St., Clearfield, currently an inmate of the jail, pleaded guilty to possession of firearm prohibited in one case and to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance-cocaine in two, other cases Tuesday in Clearfield County Court.
President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman sentenced her to serve 27 months to five years in state prison for the firearm case. For the drug cases, she received sentences of 27 months to five years and nine months to five years. All of the sentences will run concurrent with each other.
In addition, her probation on a previous criminal conspiracy/delivery of a controlled substance charge was revoked. For this she was given a concurrent sentence of 10 months to five years in state prison.
Kirk must complete drug and alcohol counseling and submit to DNA testing at a cost of $250. She will be considered for the Quehanna Boot Camp program.
Prior to sentencing, her attorney, Curtis Irwin stated that these cases are another example of how drugs ruin lives. He added that although she was looking at “serious state prison time” she did not have much of a prior record.
Kirk’s father tried to address the court on her behalf with a written statement, but he was overcome with emotion and was unable to read it. Ammerman read it into the record for him. In this statement, he explained how Kirk had made some bad choices including getting into an abusive relationship.
“She needs treatment as much as she needs to pay her debt to society,” he said, adding that when she gets out, her family will be there to support her.
Kirk also spoke from a prepared statement, saying she was taking responsibility for her actions and apologizing to everyone.
After he announced the sentence, Ammerman noted that giving her a 27-month minimum sentence was the best he could do in this situation.
“Hopefully she will pull it together,” he commented.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Maines had asked the judge to run the sentences consecutive to each other, which could have given her a minimum sentence of over five years.
According to court documents, she sold crack cocaine for $90 to an undercover officer on Dec. 3 and sold a confidential informant 0.24 grams of cocaine on two occasions in August of 2014. She was arrested as part of “Operation Leaf Rake” in October.
“Operation Leaf Rake” is an ongoing cooperative drug investigation in Clearfield County. District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. said in a press release that this comprehensive investigation, coordinated by the Clearfield County District Attorney’s Office and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Narcotics Investigation (State College Office), focused on street- and mid-level drug dealers. Many of the suspects were selling the controlled substances on the streets, in parking lots, in local establishments, and in apartments and houses throughout the county.
According to the affidavit in the firearm case, officers were searching an apartment for Kirk when they found a rifle next to her in a closet. The resident of the apartment said she was not aware the rifle was there and she asked the officers to take it with them. She said it belonged to Kirk, who was trying to sell it to pay fines. Because of her previous drug case, Kirk is prohibited from possessing a firearm.