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Prosecutors in Clark County, Wash., and Tim Lincecum have reached an agreement in which the pitcher will pay a $250 fine relating to his possession of a marijuana pipe with the drug possession charge being dropped. Lincecum also must pay a $122 fine for speeding.

Grant Hansen, a prosecuting attorney for the county, told me Lincecum will not have to go to court as long as he sends in the fine.

ONE CLARIFICATION: A Clark County judge still must sign off on this plea agreement. If the judge does not like the deal, or has questions about it, he could order Lincecum to appear in court for a hearing scheduled for Dec. 22.

Hansen said Lincecum's celebrity had nothing to do with this disposition, which is standard for a first-time offender for misdemeanor pot possession who cooperates with police.

"Any Joe Blow would get (this deal)," Hansen said. "The way we see it, we can do something to him or we can do something for him. If we can give him a little leniency the first time, in my opinion, it goes further for being law-compliant in the future than if we kick him in the teeth."

Lincecum was cited by the Washington State Patrol for possessing 3.3 grams of marijuana and the pipe, both misdemeanors, during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 one week ago.

Technically, Lincecum agreed to plead guilty to a charge of buying or selling drug paraphernalia, which drops the crime to an infraction, in return for the drug possession charge being dropped.

Hansen said there typically are 15 to 20 similar cases in his county each week and all are treated this way. The drug charges are dropped for the cooperating, first-time offender so he does not have to carry that stigma.

Still no word from the Giants on how they plan to treat this.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/giants/detail?entry_id=51146#ixzz0W7CQLqPC