Early out: Program gives drug offenders release from prison, second chance

Angela Soo

Monday, July 9, 2001 | 11:01 a.m.

Anew program has given Las Vegas drug offenders doing hard time a second chance at freedom and sober living.

Early Release Drug Court, based on the successful Drug Court program of the 8th District Court, allows nonviolent inmates to be released one year early under close supervision. It is believed to be the first in the nation to accept inmates.

The program, authorized by the 1999 Legislature and launched in January, has already had modest success: Its first clients recently passed the halfway point.

"This place makes you want to succeed," said Gabriel, 29, one of three who have passed that milestone who recently talked to a Sun reporter about the program. All three asked that their last names not be used.

Drug Court, which has had an 83 percent success rate, focuses on preventing convicted drug offenders from going to prison and does not accept those already behind bars.

District Judge Jack Lehman, who started Drug Court eight years ago, hopes to duplicate that success with nonviolent drug offenders released from prison, where the numbers are nearly the opposite. About 80 percent of drug offenders commit crimes within two years of release from prison, he said.

The Early Release program puts inmates in an environment where they can kick the habit that put them behind bars in the first place.

In prison, "there's no room for the guy who wants to change," said Steve, 40, who served five years before entering the program in January. "People look down on you. You have to become an outcast."

The program begins with a two-week "detoxification phase," during which offenders get acupuncture six days a week and must turn in six consecutive clean urine samples, attend drug counseling sessions twice a week and make weekly appearances in Drug Court.

Counselors also help the former inmates find jobs and a place to live, Dian Edwards, the program's counselor, said. "Most are hired within a month."

The supervision continues with drug testing and counseling, and at the six-month mark, the program begins emphasizing career objectives and personal relationships.

The Early Release program requires that all participants be nonviolent, have no sex-crime offenses and no more than two felonies. Inmates must also have served at least six months of their sentence, with no write-ups in prison.

"We don't want violent people or sexual predators," Edwards said. "These people really do want to change."

The program currently has 16 people, and two have failed. Lehman said he would like to see 100 people in the program by the year's end. There are 42 on the waiting list now.

Inmates are under the watchful eye of the department of parole and probation, and one misstep could send the person back to prison without a hearing.

"They are not on parole, but are officially listed as convicts," Lehman said. "If they start screwing up, we just send them back to prison."

A panel headed by Lehman, which include a district attorney, public defender, drug counselor and parole and probation officer, decides which inmates qualify.

The new program costs up to $5,000 for one person each year -- which is $3,000 more than regular Drug Court -- because of the increased counseling and supervision. The cost to keep one person in the Nevada State Prison is $23,000.

"When you get down to it, we're also saving the prison some money," Lehman said.

Rebecca, 37, said she is grateful for getting the chance to leave prison one year early.

"I love my life the way it is now," Rebecca, who used drugs for 15 years, said. "I forgot about the little things in life, like just taking a walk down The Strip and enjoying the fountains at Bellagio. My problems are so menial now compared to before."

While using drugs, Rebecca was constantly on the run, she said, moving from place to place and always watching over her shoulder.

"I never settled down anywhere," she said. "I was always scared of being caught, never knowing who I could trust. Nothing you do is productive when you're doing drugs, it's just killing time."

Rebecca heard about the Early Drug Court Release program when she was serving time in prison for manufacturing and using speed. She was previously enrolled in the regular Drug Court, but was sent to prison by Lehman after failing to submit three clean urine samples.

"I was really mad at Judge Lehman," she said. "I thought he was so unfair to send me away. But when you're addicted to drugs, everyone else is wrong but you. You're always blaming other people for everything."

While in prison, Rebecca spoke with other women who were serving life sentences. It was a wakeup call for her.

"I asked them, How can you wake up every morning knowing that you're not going to get out?" Rebecca said. "... always having a room full of people watching you use the restroom and changing, people telling you how to dress.

"If I kept on going on the way I did, this is what I had to look forward to," she said. "I didn't want that."

She decided to make the most of her prison experience by taking classes to earn a GED. After seven months of hard time, she said, she was grateful that Lehman had sent her to prison.

Drug offenders, Steve said, sometimes need to serve some prison time before they are willing to change.

"I accepted what I did as wrong when I was in prison," Steve said. "That's why it wasn't as hard for me to accept the program as it was for other inmates who served only six months."

Without the program, Steve didn't know how he would get back on his feet after being in prison for so long. He was able to successfully re-enter society through the help of exceptional probation officers and employment counselors, he said.

"I just needed somebody to let me show them that I am for real," Steve said.

Since being admitted into the program, Steve was promoted in a public relations job he started in January. He says it's the best job he has ever had.

"People need a second chance," he said.

During the six months since Gabriel started the program, he graduated from nursing school, and is now a certified nurse. He carries a picture of himself taken five years ago as a reminder of how far he has come.

Looking nothing like the photograph, which showed a 60-pound overweight young man with a glassy stare, eyes hooded from drugs and alcohol, Gabriel is now bulging with muscles and full of energy.

Like most of the participants entering the program, he just needed a second chance to prove himself, he said.

And now, Rebecca said, there's no going back.

"You'll be amazed at how easy life is when you're straight," Rebecca said. "There's no way I'm going to throw that all away."