DRUG COURT PROGRAM ROUTES PEOPLE INTO WORK

Sam Rhodes was once a 48-year-old crack addict with no friends, no family
and 12 years of prison staring him in the face. Not many people would give
a chance to a man who estimates that within two years of starting the drug,
he had spent $400,000 on his habit.

"It doesn't mean that when my money was gone I didn't start losing other
people's money," he said. "It was a killer to me. It brought me to my knees."

Rhodes was given a second chance when in 1999 he pleaded guilty to drug
charges and entered the Greenville County Drug Court program. Now 54, he
has a wife, two young children and his own company. "I like who I am
today," he said.

Drug Court is an 18-month treatment-based program that proponents say is an
example of how people with drug problems can be rehabilitated into
contributing members of the community who find jobs and pay taxes.

Seven more people will graduate Thursday at 5:15 p.m. at the Greenville
County Courthouse.

"I don't know what would've happened to me if I hadn't gotten into this
program," said Charlene Robertson, a 42-year-old addict, who is eight weeks
away from graduation. "It has helped me tremendously."

Just over four of every 10 people will successfully complete the program,
while the others go to jail, according to Bobbie Godwin, program manager.
Of the 123 people who have completed the program since it began in 1998, 55
graduated, she said.

"There's only two doors out of drug court," she said. "One is successful
completion and the other is the South Carolina Department of Corrections."

The number of successes are outnumbered by the failures, but that is
typical of any drug court, said 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail, who
brought the program to Greenville County.

"It's the nature of the beast," he said.

Ariail said he hopes to increase that number through better screening.

Godwin said the number of people who go back to drugs is much lower than
those who are incarcerated.

Circuit Judge Charles Simmons, who volunteers his time to preside over the
court, said it is both the most frustrating yet most rewarding thing he has
ever done as a judge.

The Greenville Drug Court has done well, compared to national numbers. Five
percent of Greenville County Drug Court graduates have been re-arrested for
a crime with a sentence of a year or more after their first year of
graduation, compared to 16.4 percent nationally, Godwin said.

After two years, the number increases to 18 percent for Greenville County
grads and 24 percent for national grads, she said.

Defendants selected to enter the program must plead guilty to all of the
charges against them and be sentenced. Those charges are suspended and hang
over the defendant's head as incentive to complete the program.

"You screw up, you're gone," Rhodes said.

The program stretches over four phases. The first three phases are a
minimum of 16 weeks, which cost the offender $25 a week. The requirements
decrease after each phase.

During the first phase, the offenders meet every night for group counseling
and 12-step support programs.

Offenders in each phase must undergo random drug screens weekly and
sanctions for non-compliance.

Rhodes, who now gives motivational speeches to try and help others from
making the same mistakes he did, said the court's intense schedule and
incentive to stay out of jail makes it a success. "It keeps them clean long
enough to realize that there's another life they can have if they want it,"
he said.

Simmons said the program is a wonderful alternative to prison, which saves
the county money compared to putting the offenders in prison.

"Some people need to go to jail, period," Simmons said. "Some people need
an opportunity to turn their life around and that's what drug court is for."

Godwin said an addict's recovery not only impacts his life but also the
lives of his spouse, children, parents, friends and anyone they may rob or
steal from or hit with their car.

"Everybody is going to be affected by their recovery," she said. "Addiction
is a disease that affects a lot of people."

Robertson, said she had been through numerous treatment programs before but
none of them worked.

"They didn't care," she said.

She said she stole stuff and lost touch with her family. She said she was
given the option of drug court after facing charges for fraudulent checks.
For someone who's been addicted to drugs since she was a child, it wasn't
easy at first.

"I'm an addict, this is a disease that will be with me my entire life," she
said.

Now she talks to her children again, she said. "Now they're so proud of me
and they ask me for advice," she said.

Rhodes said he is now reunited with his sisters, who were once forced to
lock him out of their parents house. "I'm sure that's the hardest thing
they ever had to do," he said. "It goes against the grain of what you want
to do."

Rhodes praised Godwin, Simmons and Ariail, who all work together to run the
program.

"They are all people who understand and think there is some value to these
people," he said.

Staff Writer Andy Paras covers crime and courts.