ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Alumni speaker, Lina Abdazlla, gives a speech during the Lynn Drug Court graduation.
By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — There was standing room only in Courtroom 2 in District Court on Wednesday as family, friends and officials celebrated the latest Drug Court graduates who chose rehab over jail.
Travis Buckless, Charles Fisher, Alex Leahy, Frank Murray, Ruth Rozantes and Shawn Dennis, who have been drug-free for nearly two years, took center stage in Judge James LaMothe’s courtroom to a standing ovation.
“I’ve been clean for 20 months and I’m grateful for the bond this program has helped create with my family and the life I’ve built from being clean,” Buckless told the packed courtroom.
Lynn’s Drug Court is one of 23 adult courts in the commonwealth that combines intensive 18-month substance-abuse treatment under a lock up with court and health care provider supervision. Since its inception in 1999, the Lynn session has served nearly 200 people.
LaMothe stressed the difference between Drug Court from the adversarial process that typically happens in court.
“Here, we work as a team,” he said. “Our goal is to get these participants into treatment and away from this horrible addiction.”
Lina Abdalla, a program alumni, told graduates that they are on the right path. The Lynn resident is no longer on probation and recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston with a degree in psychology.
“My name is Lina and I’m an alcoholic and an addict,” she told the crowd. “As I look over at the graduates, I’ll never forget that I sat in this courtroom shackled, miserable and ready to die. But Drug Court lifted me up when I couldn’t help myself because I was in a dark place in my life. I’m thankful that Drug Court was able to stop me and give me a chance at a beautiful life.”
In an interview following the ceremony Buckless, a 31-year-old former Lynn resident, said he faced a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for heroin possession.
“My last overdose was at a family member’s house and it was really scary,” he said. “I had served six months in jail for possession and I was headed back. I wanted to give myself a chance through this program. As a result, my life today is so much different. I can visit my parent’s home, the trust that had been lost has returned.”
Drug Court is an effort to deal with the opioid crisis that has exploded across the nation. Fatal opioid overdoses in the U.S. have tripled since 2000. In Lynn alone, 43 people OD’d last year, nearly double the number in 2012.
LaMothe described the program as intensely supervised probation for defendants who have been found, or plead guilty to drug charges and acknowledge their addiction is so strong that the courts must direct treatment.
Each addict is paired with a probation officer and an attorney. Court officers take them to and from the session and, sometimes, treatment centers or jail. Cases are overseen by an assistant district attorney.
Outside the courthouse, health providers help the participants achieve and maintain sobriety. Social-service agencies offer supervision in sober homes and help participants get jobs. Family members and friends are counted on to give emotional support.
Still, relapses happen. The National Association of Drug Court Professionals reports that nationwide 75 percent of Drug Court graduates remain arrest-free at least two years after leaving the program, evidence of a 25 percent failure rate.
Graduates Michael Byrnes, Monique Gonyea and Robert Newton did not attend the graduation.
Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, who serves on the executive committee of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, said he’s all in when it comes to turning lives around.
“This is nothing short of a miracle,” he said. “I have such great respect for the program graduates. Knowing that they are going to still have struggles ahead takes a lot of courage.”
Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins, who is retiring this year, praised the graduates who, he said, got sober under the court’s guidance.
“The best reward of our jobs is to see people turn their lives around,” he said. “They step away from a life of problems and crime. More importantly, they are reunited with their families and live healthy and productive lives.”
Thomas Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@itemlive.com.