Q: Likelihood of jail or prison time with meth charge and extensive criminal history in another state?
My brother has an extensive drug history and a history of not appearing in court in FL. He’s also has two bench warrants from Florida that he wasn’t aware of.
He was arrested in Cadillac on 9/16 for meth possession, DWI, and being in possession of a loaded firearm (the firearm was mine, in my car, and he was not aware it was there when I allowed him to use the car to go to work.
He came to Michigan from Florida following several major overdoses that resulted in brain injuries and significant memory loss. He’s been working very, very hard to stay clean and had been doing great, but had a relapse the day he was arrested. He hasn’t used or drank up until this point.
He has no memory of the warrants and very limited memory on his criminal history due to brain damage from drug use and is working to get help for that.
Is there any way that he can avoid incarceration? He’s willing to comply with anything and willing to do what it takes to stay on the right path.
A: Avoid incarceration? Unlikely. The biggest risk factors are his loose ties to the community and his history of failure to appears. I know people change, but judges see that and think "this guy can't be trusted to be out in the community to do the right thing if he can't even show up to court".
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