My brother just got out of the hospital for overdosing on cocaine, heroin and booze. He is 39 years old, and has been doing drugs since he was twelve. He is looking at about eight years of prison time because he broke his parole when he did this. We are hoping that the judge will sentence him to an impatient rehab instead of jail. Can anyone give me any ideas on what to do??

Pray. Pray that he will get the help that he needs and accept it. Best wishes to you and your family!

First off, welcome to PTO and very glad you found us !!!

Has he been given the opportunity to go into rehab or treatment prior to this threw his PO or a judge ?
I ask only because they will do that sometimes however if he has blown it in the past then they usually send them to prison though not always. Perhaps the judge will be sympathetic because it was an overdose.
I suggest you get on a letter campaign and who ever does love and care for him write letters to the judge on his behalf. If there is an opportunity for someone to speak on his behalf then I suggest your or another family member does. He obviously needs treatment though treatment will also fail if he isnt ready to acknowledge that he needs help and wants to make the change.
I know as most of us here know that prison is not the answer but when there is no other option its better than them dying on the streets. Its a hard pill to swallow I know.
Being that its a parole violation and if he hasnt picked up any new charges then he probably wont be spending 8 years in prison, (Im assuming that is what was left on his sentence). If that is the case he will be going up for parole each year and he will have to prove himself in order to be released earlier.
If he goes to prison he will probably be order to complete a drug program.
This could turn anyway, the P.O. will be the one making the recommendation to the court. Perhaps you might want to call the P.O. and plead his case for rehab though that will only work if there arent any new charges. Ive done this successfully twice.
If the P.O. knows there is a caring family member supporting him they might find him a rehab. Hope that helps.
Please keep us posted and hopefully things will have a happy ending here.
HUGS !!!

My brother is finally ready to admit that he needs the help.. THANK GOD. He says that he has a problem, and he needs help. The judge in his case says that if he messed up again.. he is going to throw the book at him. That means eight years in prison. As far as I know, there will be another new charge because of the drugs.

Well was he actually in possession of drug or drug paraphenlia ? Has he been formally charged with another charge ? If not then they can only call this a parole violation. Plus they have a time limit in which to lay new charges, how long has he been in jail ? Also was he on state or federal parole ?

Depending on how long before his court date, sometimes if they get in inpatient before (like now!) the court date, the judge will let them complete the program instead of locking them up.

he is going to be charged with another charge because he was in possession of the drug that he overdosed with. He was on state parole, I think. Im not really sure. He cant get impatient care now because he doesnt have insurance to pay for it. Our family doesnt have the 20,000 dollars that they want up front.. Im very worried and scared for him, and I dont know what to do.

His P.O. can refer him to one though since he picked up another charge it is very unlikely though I would still phone his P.O. and plead his case because she will be making recommendations on the violation side of the situation. If the P.O. sends him to one then he will be sent as a 'criminal justice client', he will have to pay back some of the cost most likely in the future as part of his parole conditions.
However, with this new charge and being on parole, this will probably end up being prison and it does not have to be 8 years. He could end up with a variety of things and it will probably be served at the same time he is serving the remainder of his other sentence. For example, if they give him 2 years for the charge he just picked up, he will be going up for parole before that two years is up. If he had 8 left on his previous sentence, he will only spend 8 years if he totally misbehaves an if he gets a new sentence which has a min of more than eight years.
What was the quantity of drugs he was caught with ? If it was a small amount then they cant give him over a certain amount.
Where are you getting the 8 year figure from ? Also you say he is going to be charged with another charge, how long has he been in jail this time or is he free at the moment ? They have to charge him within a certain time frame if they are holding him. Also is his parole federal or state ? That makes a big difference.

Hello & Welcome To PTO. I am sorry to hear about your brother-I hope that he gets the help that he needs for his addictions and that everything will work out for him. Best of luck to you-Please keep us posted.

I just wanted to also say that there are plenty of rehabs out there that do not need money. My boyfriend has been in alot of rehabs and has never once had insurance, we always found places that took charity care or there are places ran by the Salvation Army that let you work for your keep! DO some research on rehabs....

If you want to send Shelby or I a location we will get you a list. As Loris has said, there are plenty that are free or you work it off in there. My husband has been in so many I cant count them and has never had to pay for any though some of them he did work while in there and a portion of the money went to cover his rehab cost.
Good luck and keep us posted.