Memo to all defendants: Don't bring your pot with you to court.
That's exactly what prosecutors say Barry Maharaj did yesterday when pleading guilty to drunken driving and, not surprisingly, a previous charge of possessing marijuana.
Maharaj, 25, was all set to walk out of 1st District Court in Hempstead a free man, having already served the 10 days he was facing as his jail sentence.
But, according to Steven Schwartz, chief of the Nassau district attorney's office District Court Bureau, Judge Norman St. George required Maharaj to surrender his conditional driver's license as part of the plea deal.
Maharaj handed over the paper document to the judge's clerk, who proceeded to open the folded-up record.
"She looked at it and was kind of stunned," Schwartz said. In the creases of the paper was marijuana."
The clerk then showed the loose buds to the judge, who had Maharaj rearrested for marijuana possession, Schwartz said.
Maharaj is due back in court on Sept. 26.
"In my 25 years, I've never heard of anything like this," Schwartz said.
Maharaj's court appearance yesterday stemmed from his Nov.8 arrest for DWI and pot possession.
Prosecutors said he was swerving and clocked at driving 90mph in a 40 mph zone on Sunrise Highway in Rockville Centre.
When he was pulled over, officers allegedly smelled some marijuana and found a joint in his ashtray.
Maharaj, who listed his address as Inkster, Mich., had a blood-alcohol level of .13, over the state's legal limit of .08, and was forced to give up his driver's license, prosecutors said.
The construction worker was given a paper conditional license allowing him to drive to and from work.
Schwartz said as part of the plea offer, the defendant was required to forfeit that license.
He was also going to be sentenced to 10 days for the DWI offense but the marijuana rap was going to be dismissed, as long as he stayed out of trouble for six months.
"He lost the opportunity to get a break on the marijuana case," Schwartz said, adding that Maharaj now faces serving another 15 days in jail.
Maharaj's attorney, Vito Palmieri, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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