Multnomah County Judge Chanpone Sinlapasai accepted the first guilty plea in the county today under a new part of Oregon’s Interfering with Public Transportation law. The revision to the law was passed by the Oregon Legislature as Senate Bill 1553 and took effect on January 1, 2025. The revision added the consumption of illegal drugs on public transportation to the crime of Interfering with Public Transportation, a Class A misdemeanor and not eligible for deflection.
An information accused Nicholas Clay Birdsley on three counts of Interfering with Public Transportation while on the Portland Streetcar.
He pled guilty to Count 1, for trespassing on a public vehicle on Jan 19, 2025 and Count 2 for knowingly ingesting and inhaling a controlled substance that was not legally possessed by the defendant while on a public transit vehicle on February 24, 2025.
Count 3, another trespass, was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Judge Sinlapasai sentenced Mr. Birdsley to 12 months bench probation, 10 days jail credit for time served, a mandatory drug evaluation (which he would not have received if he was under a deflection program), an order to follow recommended treatment (which would not have been part of a deflection) and abide by any Portland Streetcar exclusions.
The case was prosecuted by DDA Wilson Carpenter.
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