Jodi453
03-16-2006, 01:16 AM
I am fairly new to this, so I am not certain that the information I provide to the Defendant's Family information will be given to the Judge, but the cover letter from the PO states it "may be included in the report to the Court". Would appreciate any comments anyone has. Also, does anyone know if this is my letter to the Judge or if I write another one to him?
What they ask is:
"What was the defendant like during his/her formative years? For example, did he/she have problems in the home, community or at school? Did he/she have any outstanding achievements or experiences? Pleae add any comments or information which might help us to better understand the defendant."
Here is what I have (I know it seems long, but it is hard not to try to give them as much information as possible to make a determination.) He is charged with 3 felonies that could carry a sentence of 15 years. He is currently (as of a week ago) out on supervised release in order to find a drug program, etc. If he gets into a drug program and successfully completes it and his 5 years probation, he is eligible for a DAG (which means if he stays out of trouble, the felonies will be expunged from his record).
***********
To Whom it May Concern,
My son, Chris, was very well-behaved growing up and extremely helpful. His father and I divorced when he was 4 years old. He has a sister, Suzanne, who is two years older. We struggled financially with my having jobs in day care centers and eventually as a typist in a hospital, that paid between $5 and $7/hr. plus child support of $150/mo. for 2 children, but we were fine and got along well. He comes from a stable family. I am 60 years old and have worked 42 years with only 5 jobs in my entire life (plus sometimes working additional part time second jobs). I have been with my current job for 12 years. His sister, who is 39 years old has been at the same job since she graduated from high school—over 20 years.
Chris had a paper route when he was about 8 yrs. old and used to be very helpful to the older people on his paper route. He would help them with yard work, etc. There was one elderly lady on his paper route who had emphysema and other health problems. She told him once that she wished she had a dog to keep her company as she could not get out of the house, etc., however, she thought she didn’t have enough “time left” to try to train a puppy. Chris told me this story and asked if he could give her his dog, Mitzi, which he did and she was very happy with that little dog. Chris used to spend a lot of time over there doing things for her and helping her care for the dog.
He did spend most of his time with older people rather than friends his own age. I am not sure if that was by his choice or the fact that there was only one boy his age on our street.
We did a lot of things together. We lived in a trailer, and Chris and I built a room onto it all by ourselves. He liked to do things like that. He never gave me any trouble when he was young. He did well in school.
However, during these formative years, he had very little contact with his father, who seemed to be of the belief that if you divorce the wife, you divorce the family, even though he lived in the same town as we did.
When he was 8 years old, he got his Novice Amateur Radio License and when he was 9 years old he upgraded to Technician Class—the youngest ham radio operator in Las Vegas. He joined MARS (Military Amateur Radio Service) and was active in passing messages from our troops to their families, etc. He stayed fairly active in Ham Radio, the Red Cross, Civil Defense and ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service).
I remarried in 1985 and we moved to Boulder City where Chris completed his last two years in high school and was on the Dean’s List. He had a lot of friends at this school.
The last few months before high school graduation, I noticed a change. I never suspected drugs because he was so involved with anti-drinking/anti-drug groups, with red ribbons on his truck, etc. His grades began to slide. He began not to come home at night. Anyway, he did get involved with drugs—first using very potent caffeine pills, then as I learned later, marijuana and crystal methamphetamine. I finally got him to go to counseling when he was about 20. During one of his counseling sessions, he told me that he had been abused by a male friend of mine who lived in our house from the time Chris was about 4 until he was about 12. Even though this was the first I had learned of this, he blamed me and I blamed myself. I am not sure either one of us will ever get past this.
Basically from the time he got out of high school, he has been on and off of drugs—almost 20 years. There was one period of time when he had 26 jobs in 2 years. He just could not hold a job. This went on for several years. He lived in California and in Texas for awhile and some of the time, I didn’t always even know where he was.
At one point, he came back to live with us in Boulder City, worked at the same place as I worked, working with computers and as technical support for an Internet service provider, and seemed to be doing really well for a couple of years. He went back to college, and eventually got his degree in Social Work. He received the UNLV School of Social Work Alumni Association Bachelor of Social Work Student of the Year and Scholarship Award "For his academic achievement, leadership and service to the School and the Community". I do not know if he was on drugs while he was in college, until the last year, that I am certain he was, because he told me. However, he did get through and graduate at the top of his class. I never graduated from college, so I was very proud that he did.
The first job he got after graduation as a licensed social worker was a non-profit organization who lost some funding after 9/11, so his job came to an end after about 4 months. From then on, he was heavily into drugs, bad friends, getting good jobs and keeping them only a short time. He dropped out of the Master’s Program at school. At that point, nothing was sacred. He would steal from me, lie to me, and it was a very difficult time for all of us. After losing the last job here, he decided he needed a change in environment, and went to Hawaii thinking he could start fresh. He got a job, apparently met more drug friends, and continued to be heavily involved in drugs.
He is a kind, gentle and compassionate person, who has spent a lot of time volunteering for non-profit organizations for the past several years. I just want you to know that he has a loving and supportive family who feels, as he does, that he needs a long term drug rehabilitation residential program to help him through this. I have tried and tried to get him to go into some sort of program, but for the past few years, he thought that he would be able to do this on his own. He was Student of the Year, graduating from University of Nevada in 2001 with a degree in Social Work. He thinks that because of this, he should be able to help himself, which, in fact, makes him feel like a failure, both personally and in his field of social work. He feels that if he can’t help himself, how can he help others? He is now 36 years old. He suffers from low self-esteem. He has been battling drug addiction for the past many years. I do think, finally, he has hit “bottom”. He is finally asking for the help of a treatment program and realizes that this drug is something that he can’t fight on his own. He has been asking for help from many of the drug programs, and hopefully he will get accepted into one of these soon, as when he is on the street, the pull towards drugs is very strong. He not only needs a “treatment program”, but the “recovery program” as well. He needs to change the way he thinks about things and life. He needs coping skills. He needs to learn responsibility.. This drug is eating him alive. He has hurt his family a lot over the past years, but we feel that if he could get off the drugs, the kind, considerate, compassionate person will still be there when he is off his crippling drugs. Maybe someday he could even use this experience to help him, help others. I am being very supportive, writing to him almost every day, letting him know that I am here for him and love him and want him to get well. At the same time, he needs to take responsibility for his actions and ownership of his life.
Somewhere along the road, he has lost his way, and with the help of a good drug rehabilitation program and the love of his family, I believe he could find his way and again and return to a life of helping others.
Sincerely,
What they ask is:
"What was the defendant like during his/her formative years? For example, did he/she have problems in the home, community or at school? Did he/she have any outstanding achievements or experiences? Pleae add any comments or information which might help us to better understand the defendant."
Here is what I have (I know it seems long, but it is hard not to try to give them as much information as possible to make a determination.) He is charged with 3 felonies that could carry a sentence of 15 years. He is currently (as of a week ago) out on supervised release in order to find a drug program, etc. If he gets into a drug program and successfully completes it and his 5 years probation, he is eligible for a DAG (which means if he stays out of trouble, the felonies will be expunged from his record).
***********
To Whom it May Concern,
My son, Chris, was very well-behaved growing up and extremely helpful. His father and I divorced when he was 4 years old. He has a sister, Suzanne, who is two years older. We struggled financially with my having jobs in day care centers and eventually as a typist in a hospital, that paid between $5 and $7/hr. plus child support of $150/mo. for 2 children, but we were fine and got along well. He comes from a stable family. I am 60 years old and have worked 42 years with only 5 jobs in my entire life (plus sometimes working additional part time second jobs). I have been with my current job for 12 years. His sister, who is 39 years old has been at the same job since she graduated from high school—over 20 years.
Chris had a paper route when he was about 8 yrs. old and used to be very helpful to the older people on his paper route. He would help them with yard work, etc. There was one elderly lady on his paper route who had emphysema and other health problems. She told him once that she wished she had a dog to keep her company as she could not get out of the house, etc., however, she thought she didn’t have enough “time left” to try to train a puppy. Chris told me this story and asked if he could give her his dog, Mitzi, which he did and she was very happy with that little dog. Chris used to spend a lot of time over there doing things for her and helping her care for the dog.
He did spend most of his time with older people rather than friends his own age. I am not sure if that was by his choice or the fact that there was only one boy his age on our street.
We did a lot of things together. We lived in a trailer, and Chris and I built a room onto it all by ourselves. He liked to do things like that. He never gave me any trouble when he was young. He did well in school.
However, during these formative years, he had very little contact with his father, who seemed to be of the belief that if you divorce the wife, you divorce the family, even though he lived in the same town as we did.
When he was 8 years old, he got his Novice Amateur Radio License and when he was 9 years old he upgraded to Technician Class—the youngest ham radio operator in Las Vegas. He joined MARS (Military Amateur Radio Service) and was active in passing messages from our troops to their families, etc. He stayed fairly active in Ham Radio, the Red Cross, Civil Defense and ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service).
I remarried in 1985 and we moved to Boulder City where Chris completed his last two years in high school and was on the Dean’s List. He had a lot of friends at this school.
The last few months before high school graduation, I noticed a change. I never suspected drugs because he was so involved with anti-drinking/anti-drug groups, with red ribbons on his truck, etc. His grades began to slide. He began not to come home at night. Anyway, he did get involved with drugs—first using very potent caffeine pills, then as I learned later, marijuana and crystal methamphetamine. I finally got him to go to counseling when he was about 20. During one of his counseling sessions, he told me that he had been abused by a male friend of mine who lived in our house from the time Chris was about 4 until he was about 12. Even though this was the first I had learned of this, he blamed me and I blamed myself. I am not sure either one of us will ever get past this.
Basically from the time he got out of high school, he has been on and off of drugs—almost 20 years. There was one period of time when he had 26 jobs in 2 years. He just could not hold a job. This went on for several years. He lived in California and in Texas for awhile and some of the time, I didn’t always even know where he was.
At one point, he came back to live with us in Boulder City, worked at the same place as I worked, working with computers and as technical support for an Internet service provider, and seemed to be doing really well for a couple of years. He went back to college, and eventually got his degree in Social Work. He received the UNLV School of Social Work Alumni Association Bachelor of Social Work Student of the Year and Scholarship Award "For his academic achievement, leadership and service to the School and the Community". I do not know if he was on drugs while he was in college, until the last year, that I am certain he was, because he told me. However, he did get through and graduate at the top of his class. I never graduated from college, so I was very proud that he did.
The first job he got after graduation as a licensed social worker was a non-profit organization who lost some funding after 9/11, so his job came to an end after about 4 months. From then on, he was heavily into drugs, bad friends, getting good jobs and keeping them only a short time. He dropped out of the Master’s Program at school. At that point, nothing was sacred. He would steal from me, lie to me, and it was a very difficult time for all of us. After losing the last job here, he decided he needed a change in environment, and went to Hawaii thinking he could start fresh. He got a job, apparently met more drug friends, and continued to be heavily involved in drugs.
He is a kind, gentle and compassionate person, who has spent a lot of time volunteering for non-profit organizations for the past several years. I just want you to know that he has a loving and supportive family who feels, as he does, that he needs a long term drug rehabilitation residential program to help him through this. I have tried and tried to get him to go into some sort of program, but for the past few years, he thought that he would be able to do this on his own. He was Student of the Year, graduating from University of Nevada in 2001 with a degree in Social Work. He thinks that because of this, he should be able to help himself, which, in fact, makes him feel like a failure, both personally and in his field of social work. He feels that if he can’t help himself, how can he help others? He is now 36 years old. He suffers from low self-esteem. He has been battling drug addiction for the past many years. I do think, finally, he has hit “bottom”. He is finally asking for the help of a treatment program and realizes that this drug is something that he can’t fight on his own. He has been asking for help from many of the drug programs, and hopefully he will get accepted into one of these soon, as when he is on the street, the pull towards drugs is very strong. He not only needs a “treatment program”, but the “recovery program” as well. He needs to change the way he thinks about things and life. He needs coping skills. He needs to learn responsibility.. This drug is eating him alive. He has hurt his family a lot over the past years, but we feel that if he could get off the drugs, the kind, considerate, compassionate person will still be there when he is off his crippling drugs. Maybe someday he could even use this experience to help him, help others. I am being very supportive, writing to him almost every day, letting him know that I am here for him and love him and want him to get well. At the same time, he needs to take responsibility for his actions and ownership of his life.
Somewhere along the road, he has lost his way, and with the help of a good drug rehabilitation program and the love of his family, I believe he could find his way and again and return to a life of helping others.
Sincerely,