Family Tried to Save Teen from Drug Use

It can't be easy for a mother to ask a judge to refund her bail money and keep her teenage son behind bars.

But that's what a Brookfield mother did in January 2008, after her then 19-year-old son continued to use cocaine and marijuana while out on bail for charges alleging he sold Ecstasy to an undercover officer.

"I'm requesting that he be held in jail for his own safety," the mother jotted in a handwritten note to a judge.

Three months later, her son pleaded guilty in the Ecstasy case and served a one-year work-release jail sentence before being released on probation. He continued to relapse and face legal consequences until his final arrest in May 2009.

Last Friday morning, his parents found their now 22-year-old son in his bedroom, dead from an apparent overdose that police say might have involved heroin.

Police said the family was devastated. A man at the home said they likely would not talk about their son, his struggles or his successes. A private funeral was held Tuesday. No public death notices or obituaries were published. Interview requests were met with silence.

Court records show the family tried to intervene, with some success, but the man kept succumbing to his addictions.

Relapse is a common problem, particularly for those addicted to opiates and heroin, said Claudia Roska, executive director of the Addiction Resource Council in Waukesha. Those drugs, she said, alter users' brains and create irrepressible cravings that lead to relapse.

But Roska advised parents to never give up hope and to keep fighting by changing treatment plans or counselors.

"It can be very difficult," Roska said. "That's why it's so important to intervene as early as possible."

Information gleaned from the Brookfield man's court records offer a glimpse into the dangers of drug use and how dabbling in one drug can lead to other, more potent addictions.

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The young man was 18 and working for a family electrical business in January 2007 when he had his first encounter with police. An officer stopped him while he was driving his white Chevy for failing to yield the right of way while pulling out of a parking lot onto North 124th Street at North Avenue.

Officers found a plastic bag of marijuana and $1,000 in cash in the teen's pants pocket. He told police he bought the drugs for his own use and didn't sell any, and that the money was from his grandmother.

The teen received a traffic citation and was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon, a paring knife with a 3-inch blade.

Five months later, his mother called police after her son became belligerent at their Brookfield house, throwing garbage onto the front lawn while trying to find his driver's license in the garbage. He swung a bat around in anger but never threatened his mother, who told him he had to leave because she had an appointment.

That incident led to a bail jumping and disorderly conduct criminal complaint, which noted the teen was not allowed at the house unless his parents were home "due to past incidents." He was living in a Wauwatosa apartment at the time.

In July 2007, he pleaded guilty to the two misdemeanors and was sentenced to serve 18 months of probation, attend alcohol and drug abuse treatment, and stay sober.

Less than a month later, he was arrested in a Waukesha parking lot, accused of selling 75 Ecstasy pills to an undercover agent for $900. He shortchanged the buyer by 25 pills in anger after the meeting place was moved, requiring a longer drive.

This time, he was stuck in jail, unable to post $3,500 bail on his first felony drug charges. In an August 2007 bail screening interview, he said his drug use was "marijuana on the weekends," but that he had "quit using marijuana a couple of weeks ago."

He remained jailed for three months. He celebrated his 19th birthday behind bars before his mother posted his bail and he returned to work for the family business.

He didn't last a month.

The young man twice tested positive for cocaine and marijuana on drug tests required as part of his probation. His counselor discharged him after he failed to show up for appointments.

He was arrested in January 2008 for violating bail by using drugs and was charged with felony bail jumping. That was when his mother penned her note to a judge, asking for the bail refund and her son's return to jail.

This time the man told a bail screener he was using "cocaine biweekly, marijuana every day."

In April 2008, his family wrote letters on his behalf, urging compassion from the judge who sentenced the teen for the Ecstasy sale and bail jumping.

"As most parents do, I love my son unconditionally," his father wrote. "I will continue to support him as he begins to step into himself as a man and as a productive member of our family and society."

His mother, grandmother, sister and cousin all wrote about his good heart, his loyal, caring nature and his willingness to help others. His grandmother said he visited her often and, unlike others, really listened to her stories and refused to accept her gifts or money.

"(He) is a good kid who has developed a serious drug problem," his mother wrote. "He is kind, compassionate, loving, caring, giving, thoughtful, gentle, forgiving, sensitive, fun to be around and has a good sense of humor."

"When using drugs," she wrote, "he becomes a different person."

She went on to describe that different person. Impulsive. Immature. Irritable. No longer caring about himself or others.

She wrote that medication might help him beat his drug addiction.

His sister said he had confided in her that "he wanted to become a better person" and change his life.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge Neal Nettesheim sentenced the man to five years probation and a year in jail with work-release privileges. His probation barred him from attending rave parties or underground concerts. Treatment was ordered, with absolute sobriety required.

Nettesheim imposed but stayed a three-year prison term, meaning he  would only be imprisoned if his probation was revoked.

Again, it didn't last.

Four months later, the man failed a drug test, testing positive for amphetamines. The jail asked that his work-release privileges be revoked. His attorney later said another inmate had smuggled in the prescription drug Adderall and gave him one to relieve stress.

On his 20th birthday, he was again allowed work-release privileges. Those privileges were revoked fewer than three months later, when he tested positive for opiates and cocaine. He was transferred again to the main jail.

After serving his jail term, the man was arrested again in May 2009. It would be his final arrest.

That criminal complaint says a Brookfield police officer stopped the man's white Chevy after it swerved between lanes on Capitol Drive, turned onto St. Andrews Court and stopped in the road. The man opened the car door and leaned out, looking as if he might vomit.

The officer said the driver was "lethargic, slow to answer questions and his eyes were glassy and he appeared to be extremely tired."

The man told the officer he had taken Valium, for which he had a prescription. The officer found three bags of marijuana stuffed around the gas tank cap behind the small tank door. The man said he had bought six bags for $20 and had smoked some.

He ended up at the Sturtevant Transitional Facility, eligible for release in August 2010. Court records do not indicate when he was released.

On July 22, 2011, he was found dead in his bedroom from an apparent drug overdose.

Brookfield police said they are investigating where he got the drugs to determine if criminal charges should be filed in connection with his death.