Castor Conley Felony - A 27-year-old Portland man was minutes away from blowing a plea deal and being convicted for a crime that he was not directly involved in when a stranger came to his aid by paying up his $983 court fine.
"I've practiced for 22 years, and I've never seen anything like it, and I don't expect to again," Lawrence Taylor, the attorney for defendant Castor Majuro Conley said.
Reports indicate that Castor Conley was being prosecuted for the robbery of a vehicle. He had bought and subsequently sold a car, which turned out to be stolen property. Prosecutors decided to reduce the charges against Conley after considering the facts of his case. However, he was required to come up with $983 as restitution for the owner of the stolen vehicle.
The five-week period that the court gave Conley to cough up the money had actually elapsed and his lawyer was in court to ask for an extension of one week when the stranger stepped in and cleared his bill.
According to The Oregonian, the man who paid Conley's plea fee, Colin M. Murphy, is a civil attorney who works with Gary and Bullock Associates.
Murphy was reportedly in the halls of the Multnomah County Circuit Court and was waiting for his trial to be called when he heard Taylor talking to a prosecutor about Conley's case and the fact that he may lose the incredible plea deal. Murphy, who reportedly did not know Conley in any way, decided on the spot to help the suspect.
Although state laws disallow attorneys from lending money to their clients, Murphy was not technically working with Conley so he was allowed to pay his bill. Murphy said, Conley, who is married and has a 17-month-old child, looked like he needed a second chance. Conley reportedly extended his gratitude to Murphy. But Taylor has told ABC that the judge ordered Conley to pay Murphy back his money.
Murphy, who revealed that he has been flooded with many positive phone calls and emails since the incident, says it will be "great" to be repaid his money, although he will not hold it to Conley if this doesn't happen.
Conley had just one misdemeanor, according to Taylor. A felony charge meant he would have lost his job and with it the chances of working in many organizations and living in certain rented properties. After paying up his fine, the court reportedly sentenced Conley to 18 months probation.
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