Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Kimberly Landrum, left, laughs with Latosha James, a Municipal Court employee, after graduating from WIN (Women in Need), a city of Las Vegas specialty court, Tuesday at the Regional Justice Center. Landrum has a criminal history that began in 2000, with charges ranging from embezzlement to drugs, credit card fraud and prostitution. Today, she has successfully completed her recovery programs, is employed and is an inspiration to other program participants.
By Cara McCoy 
Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Sun coverage
The woman shown in a Las Vegas jail booking photo and the woman who appeared before a city judge Tuesday hardly looked like the same person.
In the mug shot, Kimberly Landrum had scraggly hair, sunken eyes and an expressionless face. But now she was appearing in court, in a sharp blue dress, hair nicely coiffed and a smile filling her face.
The judge gave Landrum a copy of the booking mug. Tears streamed down Landrum’s face as she looked at her old self: homeless, addicted to drugs and prostituting herself on the streets of Las Vegas.
Today, Landrum, 35, who grew up near Sunrise Mountain, has a good job with a collection agency. In the past year, she has reconnected with her 15-year-old daughter, who was raised by Landrum’s mother while Landrum struggled with addiction and homelessness.
She is no longer the person who got herself into trouble by hanging out with the wrong people at the wrong places.
“I’ve been out of my mind for 10 years,” she said. “I was a monster. I didn’t care about life — I didn’t care about what I did, where I lived. I didn’t care about anything. I was this person who was just completely dead inside. I gave up on myself.”
Then came a turning point — an arrest for solicitation of prostitution that led her to the courtroom of Municipal Judge Cynthia Leung.
Leung presides over the Women in Need specialty court, a prostitution prevention program aimed at chronic offenders.
And on Tuesday she was celebrating Landrum’s successful completion of the program. Not everyone makes it. “These are career prostitutes who almost always have drug and alcohol issues and who have nowhere to turn,” Leung said. “By the time I see them, they’ve been coming into the system repeatedly like a revolving door.”
The program takes aim at the underlying issues that propel the cycle: addiction and homelessness. Landrum enrolled in WestCare, a drug-treatment program that helped her kick her crack-cocaine habit, as well as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous.
The court program also helps the women learn practical skills, get their high school equivalency diplomas and find counseling services.
“All of these ladies have some kind of trauma, either physical, mental or both,” Leung said. “By the time I see them, they’re at the end of their rope.”
Landrum is the eighth woman to graduate from the program since its 2007 inception. Dozens have tried. None of the graduates has re-offended.
Leung said the program works because of its team-based approach.
“The ladies feel the energy and the support that’s behind them if they want to do it,” she said.
Kimberly Landrum displays her certificate of graduation to friends and family as she graduates from WIN (Women in Need), a city of Las Vegas specialty court, Tuesday at the Regional Justice Center. Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Leung applauds at right. Landrum has a criminal history that began in 2000, with charges ranging from embezzlement to drugs, credit card fraud and prostitution. Today, she has successfully completed her recovery programs, is employed and is an inspiration to other program participants.
Attorney Heidi Almase has been representing the women in the program pro bono for about a year. Formerly a lawyer in both the city attorney’s office and later the attorney general’s office, she said that as a former prosecutor, she finds the work rewarding.
“You sit there and think, ‘Oh, I’m helping them out.’ But really they’re helping us out. All of them have a story,” she said.
The women in the program — right now, 11 are active participants — have suspended 180-day jail sentences hanging over their heads as they complete self-improvement tasks and check in with the judge at regular sessions. It takes one or two years for them to complete the program.
But the jail time isn’t always a deterrent.
Sometimes women want to get out of jail so badly they get involved in the program, only to fail and wind up serving the six months in jail anyway, said Melanie Fedraw, the city’s specialty courts coordinator.
On several occasions when the going got rough, Landrum walked into Leung’s courtroom and said she was ready to go to jail. Four of the past 10 years of her life were spent behind bars for crimes she committed to support her crack-cocaine habit, so she knew she could do the time.
But in the end, she said, the program taught her to embrace having structure and direction in her life.
On Tuesday, Leung officially closed out Landrum’s cases as the courtroom erupted in cheers and applause. Leung presented her with a framed certificate of completion. Fedraw gave her a book of inspirational sayings. As a symbol of her transformation, Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian presented her with a butterfly necklace.
“I had hit rock bottom where I had nowhere to go, no one to call, nothing to eat, nowhere to live. I was homeless,” Landrum said. “Today, I have a place to live. I have a job. I have an excellent support group. I have my family — and I have my dignity.”
"None of the graduates has re-offended."
It makes one wonder why so many "offenders" are warehoused in jails and prisons across the state at a cost of $22,000+ per year.
That money could go a long way toward providing the education and skills most of the "offenders" need to live a productive life.
So, do we have our priorities straight?
Good for her! Nice to see a positive story!
I wish we had more of these specialty courts and less people in prison at 25K a year.
What a success story. Congratulations to her.
Very nice story. Good luck to her in the future.
finally something worth reading
I'll admit it. Many times when I see stories about yet another repeat offender I say that they ought to be locked up and throw away the key. This, however, is exactly why they shouldn't. This is an example of what is right with our system - we need more like it. Great story. Good luck to you Kimberly!
And, "dignity" is one of the most valuable assets that this lady will always have. Once you get it, it's yours for life. Good luck Kimberly, and you are a model for others to follow. Thanks to the Sun staff for removing some very barbaric remarks.
And, Las Vegas has a model municipal court judge in Cynthia Leung. Other urban cities should follow her lead.
"Attorney Heidi Almase has been representing the women in the program pro bono for about a year."
She got a free attorney. And free counseling, etc. If she is now a rehabilitated criminal, I find it interesting there's no mention at all of restitution to her victims. Or is this all about feeling good because she's absolved of all responsibility for her crimes?
The court's business is justice. I see none served here.
Good Luck Kimberly! Seeing your smiling face and reading about how well you're doing now made my day. Thank you LVSun for the positive story!
legalize drugs and prostituion and save money
I hope they have programs like this in Florida for rich people that might be addicted to prescription pain pills, and have their servants try to get the pills by doctor shopping and bring them back to their mansion in Palm Beach,..
How come some people have their drug problem criminalized and other people (on talk radio) don't face any criminal sanctions for their drug abuse?
To the naysayers who have commented on this. Please try and understand that sometimes what happens in life is beyond your control. This woman may have been, repeat may, born into a financially unstable environment that could have been rife with drugs, alcohol and other elements that most of us have never had to deal with. She may have never had a choice BUT to continue on living in this same environment that she was born into. I'm not saying she was but we do not know. So for those of you who have no experience with growing up in those environs, count your blessings. For those who are able to successfully escape it, perhaps like Kimberly here, it is our role as fellow citizens and members of the human race to support her.
In regards to restitution, I'd rather give her this hall pass than bear the expense of locking her up again. And now she'll be paying taxes through her employment, spending her money in the local community stores and contribute to the economy. It's a forest and trees thing KillerB. You have to look beyond the trees buddy.
Having said that, I'll now go back to bashing on Reid.
Let me get this straight: Something positive happened to someone in the Las Vegas area? Wow, I've been a long time fan of your great city and have enjoyed numerous trips down there. Due to family reasons, I have not been able to go for about 2 years, and I miss it dearly. I started reading the Sun online almost daily a year ago to get my "vegas fix," and I'll I've read about is the amazingly horrific state of affairs from crime to unemployment (aside from the occasional casino fluff piece; although credit due to the construction death articles). While much of the country is stuck in this quagmire, it seems NV has been hit so much harder. I am elated to read something positive like this.
Thank you JKE!!! You are a smart man!!!
I'm happy for her. Now if she can find work I see no reason why people are crying about unemployment money. How come you guys can't find a job? What do you guys do everyday?
What a crock, she got herself in this mess by hanging out with the wrong people? Maybe she was the wrong people. Why is this "news"
Good for her. It is very difficult to get out of the game.
One law for some, another law for others...how many people at Spanish Trail are popping pills and don't ever see the inside of a courthourse or a jailhouse?
"In regards to restitution, I'd rather give her this hall pass than bear the expense of locking her up again."
jke1717 -- spoken like someone who had absolutely nothing to lose to this woman. I'd love to hear from one of her actual victims here.
Programs such as this should be expanded.
Pass Nevada Senate Bill 398, the Intermediate Sanctions Bill.
SB 398 will save hundreds of millions of dollars and many lives.
SB 398 is favored by the SAGE Commission and PLAN.
Tom Shermspun
KillerB -- I have been victimized a number of times. My house has been broken into, my cars have been vandalized. Probably by people just like her. But did you see the story on the woman being killed and the daughter getting shot? They were selling drugs. There were four or five children in the apartment and there were drugs and cash all over the place. Do you think those kids have a choice? Do you think that out of five kids that maybe even three may make it out of middle school? I doubt it. A lot of these people are indeed victims themselves and have no other choice. As you can tell by my numerous posts, I'm not a bleeding heart by any stretch of the imagination, but I suspect that this woman did have a rough upbringing and I do celebrate the fact that now she is hopefully on the road to being a productive citizen. As a matter of fact, she is.
Would you, on the other hand, prefer that we continue to incarcerate her over and over and over again?
Bet she won't make as much money.
and what help do her victims get?
She has her dignity? Sounds like a cheap price paid to me. Stealing from others, then getting clean and deciding not to steal anymore is not a path to self-worth (or ANY worth, it's just not negative going forward).
Did you pay back society and your victims of the credit card scamming? Realize that you owe a debt and you're a long way from paying it. Once you do, then you can embrace dignity.
Throw out the lifline, somebody's drifting away.
Personally, I would rather spend money saving someone than spending money to enable her.
Mazeltov! To all concerned.
Okay all you self-righteous do-gooders out there. You too, God's Avenging Angels. THIS is the kind of woman you should be saving from a life of prostitution, NOT the ones who willingly work in legal houses in a strictly regulated and controlled environment. You want to help? Help women like Kimberly Landrum. Thank God that Judge Leung was there to help her and that Kimberly had the determination to help herself.
People can change!
First offense; Teach them a trade or give them an education.
Second Offense; Prison with hard labor for one year, then offer education or trade. No TV, drugs, or gangs running the prison, like you see on all these shows.
Third Offense ; Cost the tax payers about .25 cents, and problem is over.
Of course if the First Offense is so horrific then go straight to Second Offense, or Third Offense punishment.
99% of the time when someone is caught breaking the law, it is not their first time.