Trending
ALPENA -- A man who said he let his mother down will go to prison for delivering methamphetamine, Judge Ed Black ruled in Alpena's 26th Circuit Court on Monday.
Joseph Alexander, 36, asked for leniency at his sentencing hearing after pleading no contest to the drug delivery charge last month.
His mother, who he called "my rock," died recently, he said, telling Black he wanted to make her proud by mending his ways.
"She'd always tell me, 'Son, stop,'" Alexander said. "'You've got to grow up.'"
He couldn't keep his promises to quit and didn't know how to not be an addict, Alexander said.
Reading from a prepared statement, Alexander said public speaking terrified him, but he wanted to address Black because he believed the judge understands addiction and looks at all sides of a court case.
"I've seen you give chances," Alexander told Black. "And I've seen a lot of people walk out the door and go right back to being bad."
He asked Black to consider letting him go to rehab instead of prison.
Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski called Alexander's words eloquent but said he had plenty of chances to get help kicking his addiction habit, including during a previous prison sentence.
Had he asked for help while on probation, "people would have crawled all over themselves" to get him that help, she said.
She encouraged Black to stick with a prison sentence appropriate for the charge, saying the court shouldn't have to bend over backward to do what Alexander failed to do for the past two decades.
Reminding the defendant of his desire to honor his mother, Black sentenced Alexander to five to 20 years in prison.
Alexander could use that time to kick his habit, then return to his family a better person, Black said.
Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.