After pot charge, teen was called a threat to students

By Elizabeth Dinan
Portsmouth Herald News, NH
04/18/06

PORTSMOUTH - Charged with selling 12 grams of marijuana to a police informant, then threatening a fellow county inmate he thought was a "snitch," Portsmouth High School senior, Max Rome, was the subject of a 2½ hour Portsmouth District Court hearing Monday, to determine if he should be allowed to return to the local high school.

The hearing concluded with Judge Lucinda Sadler ruling Rome should be allowed to resume classes at PHS. In the hours preceding the judge’s decision, Rome’s defense attorney accused police of arresting the teen on felony witness tampering charges Friday, in retaliation for a superior court hearing the day prior, and for Rome’s refusal to act as a police informant.

"I can tell you the police department was trying to get Max to be an informant," said Rome’s attorney, Lincoln Soldati. "The reason Max’s bail was set originally at $50,000 cash, then $30,000, and that he’s not being allowed in school, is because Max has refused to be an informant."