A former Clarksburg High School science teacher returned to Clarksburg on Monday to serve an 18-month sentence at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility for robbery with a dangerous weapon. Brendon F. Friedman, 42, of Rockville, pleaded guilty to the charge Thursday and confessed that he is addicted to cocaine.
Friedman held up a pharmacy and a bank 11 months ago. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Paul H. Weinstein sentenced Friedman to six years in jail with all but 29 months suspended and gave him credit for the 11 months of house arrest. He will be on supervised probation for five years after his release.
"While it is a crime, this was addiction-driven as opposed to committing a crime for personal benefit," Friedman's attorney Barry Helfand said. "Addiction is a terrible thing. I see it all the time."
Weinstein asked Friedman to work up a plan for talking to high school students about his addiction and to make arrangements to talk to county students after he is released.
"He said he would be honored to do that," Helfand said.
On Nov. 13, strung out for days on cocaine and after a reprimand from a Clarksburg High School assistant principal, Friedman realized his career was in trouble, Helfand said. After school he drove to a Safeway in the 5400 block of McGrath Boulevard in North Bethesda and demanded Xanax and OxyContin at the pharmacy counter because he had not slept in days and needed the pills to come down from his high, Helfand said. He displayed a BB gun and handed the clerk a note threatening to shoot him. The clerk gave him a bottle of Xanax. SOURCE: Gazette
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