Alleged mail thief wins release -- briefly
Jun. 1—SALEM — A man accused of "fishing" mail and packages out of a North Salem mailbox got a brief taste of freedom Friday afternoon — then, probation officials say, almost immediately flouted the conditions of that release.
Wensly Plaisir, 22, who until his April arrest was living at 50 Palmer St. in Salem, was in custody at Middleton Jail, unable to make the $2,500 bail in the case and with his release in a separate Dorchester gun case revoked.
On Friday, Salem District Court Judge Randy Chapman agreed to release Plaisir on a reduced bail in the stolen mail case and reversed the bail revocation in the gun case, on the condition he wear a GPS ankle bracelet and go directly to his mother's home in Sterling. He also ordered Plaisir to stay out of Salem.
As a probation officer was putting the bracelet on him, Plaisir pointed out a cut on his face and said he wanted to have a doctor look at it. So the probation officer notified the bracelet monitoring center that Plaisir would be stopping at the hospital.
Instead, Plaisir went back to Palmer Street, the probation officer reported. The GPS showed him at several locations around "The Point."
Plaisir's lawyer, William Barabino, said his client and his girlfriend stopped for gas at a Speedway, went to her apartment and then stopped at the police station to pick up belongings confiscated after his arrest.
After that, he went to the hospital, and was having his blood drawn when his girlfriend called to tell him there were police at the apartment.
Barabino said his client then had trouble reaching the monitoring center. After he was treated, he left and went to Sterling. That's where he was arrested — his lawyer says at gunpoint — by police.
"He hears there is a warrant for his arrest and the police were at his house," Chapman said in response. Why not just go clear things up at the police station, the judge asked.
"To me the order was unambiguous," Chapman continued. "There is no part of the order that indicates he can run some errands first ... he apparently wants to push the edges."
The judge said he'd taken into account Plaisir's age and lack of prior convictions in agreeing to release him Friday. But he wasn't giving him another chance, revoking his bail in the Salem case for 90 days.
A status hearing is scheduled for June 13.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
