Judge Aaron Gauthier

ROGERS CITY — A program designed to help repeat offenders change their ways instead of sitting behind bars got three new participants in Presque Isle County on Monday.

Two men and one woman in court for addiction-related offenses were sentenced to participate in the county’s Swift and Sure program — an intensive reporting and testing regimen with swift and certain repercussions for violations.

Chanda Chapman, admitting she violated parole when she gave methadone to an acquaintance who wanted it for pain relief, said she should have been thinking of her child before she made that decision. She promised Judge Aaron Gauthier in Rogers City’s 53rd Circuit Court that she’d never appear before him again for so much as a traffic ticket.

Methadone, a drug used to help control the cravings of a narcotics addiction, can be deadly if given without prescription, Gauthier warned.

A client at a methadone treatment center in Gaylord, Chapman said the drug takes away her cravings and withdrawal symptoms and helps keep her stable enough to pursue a college degree and a career.

“Our brains can actually heal and not be in chaos from withdrawal,” Chapman told the judge, explaining how the clinic helps its clients gradually wean off of methadone and be drug-free.

“That’s all true, as long as you don’t abuse it,” Gauthier said.

Chapman was sentenced to 18 months of probation and participation in the Swift and Sure program.

She will be allowed to continue her methadone treatment while in the program.

Suboxone, another drug used to treat opioid addiction, was seized from Delbert Heythaler as illegal contraband when he was housed in the Presque Isle County Jail.

Heythaler — who told Gauthier he had kicked addiction once, only to relapse after back surgery that left him unable to work — was sentenced to join the Swift and Sure program after serving three months in jail for putting other inmates at risk.

Heythaler said he tends to his elderly mother, but he tires easily now, after his surgery.

“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” Gauthier said, reminding Heythaler that pain and depression, combined with inactivity, are a recipe for more problems that could endanger both his health and his freedom.

A third defendant, Michael Bohamed, was within days of completing an addiction treatment program when he left and was found intoxicated.

The tough restrictions of the Swift and Sure program might produce better results, Gauthier said.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.

CORRECTION: Swift and Sure is a program for repeat offenders of various types of crimes. That information was inaccurate in an earlier version of this story.