FARMINGTON -- A judge agreed to give a former employee of the Davis County Sheriff's Office one more chance to change his life, but warned him that prison will be the next stop if there are any violations of probation.
Judge Thomas L. Kay sentenced Christopher Kenneth Sorensen, 36, of Centerville, to serve one year in Davis County Jail and to complete the residential substance abuse treatment program.
Sorensen, who had worked as a deputy/paramedic for the sheriff's office from 1996 until May 23, 2003, apologized during his sentencing hearing in 2nd District Court on Thursday.
"I apologize to my fellow law enforcement officers for the embarrassment I've brought them," Sorensen said.
Sorensen was taken into custody following the hearing.
On Nov. 18, he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree felony possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of third-degree felony endangerment of a child.
Sorensen was arrested July 20 after West Bountiful police said they received a tip about bad heroin being distributed in the city.
Officers followed Sorensen to Salt Lake City, where they watched him make a drug purchase while his 3-year-old son was with him. Police then followed him to a park in North Salt Lake and arrested him.
On Oct. 30, Sorensen was among six drivers arrested at a checkpoint sponsored by the Centerville Police Department. He pleaded guilty Dec. 16 to third-degree felony possession of a controlled substance.
Kay also sentenced Sorensen to serve three years' probation with Adult Probation and Parole. He suspended two sentences of 1 to 15 years in Utah State Prison and two sentences of zero to five years in prison, but said if Sorensen "has any violations of the law, you will go to prison."
Before Kay sentenced Sorensen, Deputy Davis County Attorney Rick Westmoreland said his office had agreed with Sorensen's defense attorney, Michael Edwards, that Sorensen should receive the chance to go through the jail's substance abuse program.
"No doubt this defendant is an addict," Westmoreland said. "Police officers can be addicts, just like a homeless person. We need to treat them similar, and the next step is the RSAT program."
Westmoreland said that normally his office would not recommend someone who has a distribution conviction to the RSAT program because "we do not want them in a population where they can build a clientele."
But Westmoreland said he believes if Sorensen "is serious about getting his life back on line, then we should give him the opportunity."
Edwards said Sorensen, who had completed the drug court program on March 2, had a relapse and that since his arrest in July has been "doing all he can to get better."
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