LA CROSSE DRUG COURT TO GET OFFICIAL FIRST CASE

La Crosse County Circuit Court Judge John Perlich presided over a landmark
case Friday.

Although the small-time drug dealing case in itself might not be
earth-shaking, Perlich's sentence signaled a looming change in how many
drug-related cases will be handled. In the case of the State of Wisconsin
vs. Michael A. Savage, Perlich sentenced Savage to drug court.

Savage was the first defendant to be officially sentenced to drug court,
which starts on a trial basis Jan. 10, 2002, with 10 participants. If the
circuit court gets the federal grant money it is seeking - up to $170,000 -
the drug court program could handle as many as 100 participants, said Todd
Bjerke, the assistant district attorney who has been prosecuting
drug-related crimes for 10 years.

La Crosse County's drug court will be the second in Wisconsin - the first
was in Dane County. But the idea has been more popular in other parts of
the country, with more than 1,000 already up and running, Bjerke said.

The idea behind drug court is to help people charged with drug-related
offenses get themselves free of drugs and alcohol so they won't turn around
and commit the same crimes again and again. Perlich first proposed the idea
here.

One of the main features of drug court is a weekly session at the
courthouse with a judge, who keeps an intense watch over the participants'
progress in drug treatment.

Drug court also forces participants to take frequent and random urinalysis
tests to ensure they haven't been using drugs or alcohol. Bjerke said drug
court participants face three tests every two weeks, compared with the one
a month at best that most people on probation get.

Jane Klekamp, justice sanctions coordinator, said potential participants
first must pass an initial screening that determines if they meet all the
criteria. These include being a resident of La Crosse County, having a
problem with drug use, being charged with a drug-related crime, having no
felony convictions for violent crimes and being willing to go along with
the rules of the program.

Klekamp said the rules of the program are still being developed.

Potential drug court participants who meet the criteria then must go
through an alcohol and other drug assessment to see if they are good
candidates for treatment.

Normally, she said, people considering drug court would be given a chance
to observe drug court before deciding whether they want to be part of it.
But Savage and other members of the pilot group will have a chance to back
out of drug court after the first session.

Drug court participants will go through three levels, progressing to the
second stage after 60 days of sobriety, to the third stage after four more
months of sobriety and graduating after a final six months of being clean.

The program takes a minimum of a year, but probably will take an average of
18 months, Bjerke said. Relapses are expected, he said, and when they
happen participants often will have to go back to a previous level.

The only way somebody can fail drug court is if they become "totally
unresponsive to it," Bjerke said. In those cases, the participant would be
subject to a prison sentence on the charges he or she had pleaded guilty to.

Savage was a good candidate for drug court for a number of reasons, Bjerke
said.

For one thing, Savage has a drug problem and admitted as much in court
before Perlich. The 43-year-old La Crosse man also has no felony
convictions for violent crimes, although he does have 23 convictions on
record, 18 of them in La Crosse County since 1993.

Most drug dealers will not be allowed to participate in drug court, but
Bjerke said Savage was the lowest level dealer, one who sells drugs just to
support his own habit.

Savage was accused of selling 0.3 grams of cocaine, about $50 worth, to a
police informant last January. Under the original complaint, he was charged
with delivery of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school or park as a repeat
offender.

With that charge, he faced at least three years in prison and up to 40
years, with a fine of up to $1 million.

Under the plea agreement, Savage pleaded guilty to one count of delivering
cocaine, a felony, and one count of cocaine possession and agreed to take
part in drug court.

Although he pleaded guilty, he was not convicted of cocaine delivery, for
which he could have spent 15 years in prison. Upon successful completion of
drug court, the charge will be dismissed.

The possession charge carries a maximum fine of $5,000 and up to a year in
prison.

In addition to drug court participation, Perlich sentenced Savage to two
years probation, which could be extended.

A Marine Corps veteran, Savage will get drug treatment through the Veterans
Administration. Savage told Perlich that he had changed his life, that he
had broken up with his girlfriend to get away from the drug culture.

"I don't wanna do no time in jail," Savage said.

Although Bjerke asked for 15 to 30 days in jail, Perlich imposed no jail time.

"With your record, if you're not successful you've got a lot to lose,"
Perlich said. "I'm not going to lock you up at this point because either
you're going to be successful at drug court or you're going to prison."

If he is successful in drug court, experience says Savage will be more
likely not to commit more crimes, Bjerke said.

Studies show that 20 percent of drug court graduates go on to commit
another crime, Bjerke said, while 80 percent of those overseen in the
probation system break the law again.

"You're looking at a tremendous strain on the judicial system," Bjerke
said. "It's going to have a tremendous impact on our county."