Nashua police photo Christopher Plourde, age 25, of No Fixed Address, Nashua

NASHUA – After spending three months in jail following his arrests on burglary and drug-possession charges, it’s time for 25-year-old Christopher Plourde “to do the next right thing, so you can get out from under this,” a Superior Court judge told the Nashua man Wednesday.

With Plourde’s assurance that he plans to promptly seek out substance abuse treatment and get in a program, Judge Jacalyn Colburn accepted a plea agreement that Plourde and his attorneys had worked out with prosecutors to clear up his pending matters.

In exchange for his guilty pleas to two felony charges – one count each of burglary and possession of controlled drugs – Plourde was sentenced to two concurrent 12-month jail sentences, all deferred for one year on the condition he enters a substance abuse treatment program and remains on good behavior.

Two other pending charges, simple assault and receiving stolen property, were dropped as part of the agreement.

If the sentence is imposed, Plourde would be credited for the 94 days he’s spent in jail.

Assistant County Attorney Cassie Devine said Wednesday that the burglary charge stems from Plourde’s attempt to “force his way into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment” on March 20, 2017.

She said Plourde fled emptyhanded, however, when confronted by the ex-girlfriend’s roommate, who Plourde didn’t expect to be home, according to his statements to police at the time.

Police picked up Plourde later that day on unrelated charges, Devine said, and later charged him with the burglary.

The possession of drugs charge stems from a motor vehicle stop, during which police found a quantity of morphine sulphate while searching him, Devine said. She said police had stopped Plourde for an expired inspection sticker.

At the time of his arrest on the burglary charge, Plourde told police he fled the apartment emptyhanded, because he “was so frightened” when the roommate confronted him.

Plourde, police said, admitted to breaking into the apartment – he knew the locked door could be opened “with a sharp ‘butt check,'” he told police – with the intention of stealing his ex-girlfriend’s X-Box and her flat-screen TV, both of which she bought about a month prior.

In addition, according to the report, Plourde told plice “he intended to take anything of value that he could, in order to sell the items to buy drugs.”

He added that he thought nobody was home, and that he was in the process of taking the X-Box when his ex-girlfriend’s roommate surprised him, police said.

She ordered him out of the apartment, police said in reports, at which time Plourde allegedly pushed her out of the way as he fled.

On Wednesday, Colburn told Plourde that he’s “at high risk to overdose,” and urged him to “go to Harbor Homes today and get on the wait list,” a reference to the Nashua agency that provides emergency treatment as part of the city’s Safe Stations initiative, as well as ongoing treatment and physical and mental health services.

One of Plourde’s attorneys, Lefty Keans, noted the presence of his mother and current girlfriend in the courtroom, telling Colburn that they intend to assist and support him in his recovery.

Colburn reminded Plourde that “if you struggle, if you need help, ask for it.”

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.