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Nicole A. Weiler, 34, was before Judge Jon Budelmann that morning for a charge of attempted criminal possession of a weapon (a class D felony). She was one of three people arrested in August after the Finger Lakes Drug Task Force found more than 17 ounces of cocaine, three handguns and more than $4,000 during searches of several residences in Auburn.

Weiler was sentenced by Budelmann to five years of probation, with the first six months in the Cayuga County Jail.

Her attorney, Todd Sloan, said in court that Weiler has addiction issues and he felt probation would give her a better chance of addressing them than going to prison. 

Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci called Weiler a "danger to the community," and recommended a sentence of three years in state prison followed by three years of post-release supervision. Grome Antonacci said Weiler did not fully accept responsibility for her actions in her presentence investigation report, but admitted to possessing a gun and knowing it was in a backpack found during a search of a residence she shared with Paul Currier, one of her codefendants.

When Budelmann asked Weiler if she wanted to say anything, she noted that she has children.

"I made a mistake," she said. "I don't deserve prison at all."

When Budelmann asked if she learned any lessons, she responded, "Not to lie. Not to get involved in things that would take me away from my children."

The judge went on to caution Weiler against associating with people like Currier.

After announcing the sentence, Budelmann told her she would be back in front of him if she got in trouble during her probation, which he called a "second chance."

Weiler pleaded guilty last year, reducing a second-degree criminal possession of a weapon charge (a class C felony) to the attempted possession charge. Her plea also satisfied a charge of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a Class B felony).

Currier was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. A third codefendant, Overly L. Deloach, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a Class A-1 felony).

Grome Antonacci told ÈËÊÞÐÔ½» after court that Deloach is set to be sentenced Thursday, and Currier pleaded guilty to the weapon possession charge. He is set to be sentenced Feb. 11 to six to seven years in state prison.