Shaneen Allen, the Philadelphia mother of two facing three years in prison for mistakenly bringing her legally obtained firearm into New Jersey, will not go to jail.
Allen had been arrested last October after a traffic stop when she informed the police officer that she had a weapon in her car and presented her Pennsylvania concealed-carry permit. The prosecutor for her case, Jim McClain, initially denied Allen enrollment into New Jersey’s Pre-trial Intervention program that would have allowed her to avoid jail time as a first-time offender. This is the same program former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was allowed to enter after punching his then-fiancée in an Atlantic City casino elevator.
Last week, McClain said he was “reviewing” his decision to harshly condemn Allen for an innocent mistake. Then on Wednesday, acting New Jersey State Attorney General John Hoffman clarified that the PTI program should be allowed in cases such as Allen’s.
“In most of these cases, imprisonment is neither necessary nor appropriate to serve the interests of justice and protect public safety,” Hoffman said.
Shortly after Hoffman’s statement, McClain “determined that the defendant in this case should be offered the opportunity to be admitted into the Atlantic County PTI program,” according to a statement the prosecutor’s office put out Wednesday night.
McClain also said that over the next few weeks he would review other cases similar to Allen’s.
