7 GRADUATE FROM PUTNAM DRUG COURT

A year filled with sacrifice and sweat in the name of sobriety paid off for
seven people yesterday when they became the first graduates of the Putnam
County Drug Court.

Judge Francis A. Nicolai, administrative judge for the state's 9th Judicial
District, and Judge Robert E. Miller, head of the Putnam Drug Court,
presided over a graduation ceremony held in the historical Putnam County
Courthouse.

Putnam Drug Court, established last year, is designed to get nonviolent
substance abusers out of jail and into treatment. Judges, lawyers, law
clerks, police officers, elected officials, substance-abuse counselors, plus
the families and friends of the seven graduates were among those who packed
the steamy courtroom for the hour celebration.

Afterward, Miller said he was "tremendously proud" of the graduates.

"It's very difficult to put people in jail, but it's very rewarding to see
these seven people turn their lives around," the former Marine said.

About four months after entering the intensive yearlong program, Eric
Pongonis started to feel different physically.

"I'd wake up in the morning, and I'd actually feel good," said the
29-year-old welder from Middlebury, Conn.

After a year of sobriety, Pongonis said, he can't remember the last time he
felt so well and he's looking forward to a life free of substance abuse.

"A year ago, I never thought I'd be here, and now I couldn't imagine being
anywhere else," he said. "I'll take it one day at a time from here. I always
tell myself, 'If I don't drink, I won't get in trouble.' "

Participants in the program undergo counseling and random urine testing and
must report to the court once a week. Several people enrolled in drug court
were invited to yesterday's ceremony so they could see what they could look
forward to if they complete the course.

Maureen McGinn, a single mother of two teenagers and two 20-somethings,
credited the encouragement she got from the drug court team -- especially
Miller -- in helping her graduate.

"Judge Miller is incredible. He gives you discipline, not criticism.
Everything he says is positive," she said.

Miller said he understood that participants might have a relapse, but as
long as they kept trying and were honest, he let them stay in the program.

Anthony Bonavita, 22, of Mohegan Lake said he viewed his graduation
yesterday as a "second chance at life."

"It was definitely a wake-up call," Bonavita said.

The keynote speaker, Charles Apotheker, a former Rockland County Drug Court
judge, admitted that he hadn't embrace the drug-court philosophy when it was
first proposed and that he actually had worked against it. But after
attending Rockland's first drug court graduation, Apotheker said, he was
convinced that the program works and soon became that county's drug court
judge.

"There is a reason why there are now over 1,000 drug courts in America,"
Apotheker said. "Simply, drug courts work."

Nicolai said he, too, was initially skeptical of drug court but now saw it
as a wonderful alternative to prison.

"I'm convinced this is the best thing we've ever done," he said.