Mark Serafin, left, and Jackson Serafin, of New Britain Township. (Credit: New Britain Township Police)
Jackson Brian Serafin, 20, is also simultaneously going through a trial on car theft charges, per court records.
A New Britain Township father charged in a meth trafficking case with his son is on the path of having his criminal record expunged now that a Montgomery County Common Pleas judge has approved his admission into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program for two years, thus avoiding jail.
Meanwhile, Mark Serafin’s son, Jackson Brian Serafin, 20 , had an Oct. 8 pre-trial conference/guilty plea on the drug trafficking offenses continued to Nov. 19 at 9 a.m. before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr., per court documents.
Jackson Serafin faces felony charges of criminal use of a phone, possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver narcotics, and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, per court records.
Simultaneously, the young Serafin must also answer for car theft charges in New Britain Township from September 2023, of which his alleged co-defendant Christopher James Mook, 21, of Doylestown, already pleaded guilty to in August and received two years of probation. Mook pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of theft, conspiracy to commit theft, access device fraud, and theft of a motor vehicle, per court records.
In the car theft case, Serafin had three of four felonies withdrawn at a June preliminary hearing: Conspiracy to receive stolen property, receiving stolen property, and theft by unlawful taking, according to court documents. Charges of felony conspiracy to commit theft, and misdemeanor charges of theft from a motor vehicle and conspiracy to commit theft from a motor vehicle were held for county court.
The pre-trial conference/guilty plea for the car theft case is scheduled to take place along with the drug trafficking pre-trial conference on Nov. 19, per court documents.
According to court records, Jackson Serafin remains incarcerated at Montgomery County jail, as of Thursday.
Mark Serafin’s ARD approval occurred Aug. 27, per court records, and is for two years. As part of his ARD agreement, Serafin must also pay $1,100, enter a drug and alcohol treatment program, undergo a mental health evaluation, and complete 50 hours of community service.
According to Montgomery County, the ARD program is a unique program, approved by the state Supreme Court and overseen by the county District Attorney’s Office, wherein defendants who are first-time offenders with no prior criminal convictions or dispositions are admitted and their charges promptly disposed.
The plaintiffs and defendants avoid costly time-consuming trials, per the county, and offenders are then provided treatment and rehab. In the end, their cases are removed from the criminal justice system.
Upon admission to the ARD program, Serafin had to waive his preliminary hearing and formal arraignment at the Common Pleas level, per Montgomery County law.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
