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AUGUST 24, 2023--Judge Kevin P. Braig and Logan County Court of Common Pleas Adult Recovery Court (ARC) Team are pleased to announce the graduation of Evelyne Borba, Dessie McCourt, and Keith Shepard from the ARC.
“Evelyne Borba has become a strong mother who bravely handles the challenges she faces,” Judge Braig said. “Dessie McCourt is delightful, down-home West Virginia gal. She has brought so much job to the ARC and is an inspiration. Keith Shepard is a talented artist. I think you will see his work in exhibits around town and elsewhere.”
The ARC treatment team, treatment providers and friends and family of the graduates celebrated at Myeerah Nature Preserve in Bellefontaine. Judge Braig presented both a certificate of graduation and a guitar pick inscribed “ARC Walk the Line” as a token remembrance of his time in ARC and graduation. Judge Braig presents all graduates with this inspirational pick as a reminder that country music star Johnny Cash once suffered from a substance abuse disorder but with the help of his wife June Carter Cash and her family walked the line of recovery.
The ARC treatment team works within the framework of the traditional Logan County Common Pleas Court. The ARC’s mission is to achieve specific, rehabilitative objectives. The objectives of the ARC are to monitor treatment for substance abuse disorder of ARC participants, encourage and incentivize ARC participants to achieve rehabilitation and personal accountability, and decrease criminal activity and the need for incarceration.
The ARC provides its participants with the support of Judge Braig, Treatment Coordinator and Program Manager Annette Deao, Compliance Officers Jim Pleasant and Mandy Wilber, and treatment providers from TCN Behavioral Health Services, Community Health Wellness, the Justice Reinvestment Grant, Logan County Assistant Prosecutor Erin Rosen, local attorneys Natalie Bahan and Greg Harvey, and others. The members of the ARC Team share the goals of: (1) empowering ARC participants through treatment, accountability, and responsibility, (2) assisting ARC participants in achieving recovery from substance abuse disorder, and (3) helping ARC participants lead useful and productive lives.
Judge Braig found that Haynes committed the offenses as part of organized crime. A presentence investigation report stated that Haynes sold over 14 grams of methamphetamine on two occasions in the presence of minors. The criminal activity occurred at a house on the north side of Indian Lake that became a nest of criminal activity. The report indicated that Haynes sold the methamphetamine in large chunks. “That one was huge, I didn’t want to break up the big pieces,” Haynes told one of her buyers according to the report. “I am not selling to very many people. If you’re not buying a least a quarter, I am not selling.”
Haynes was participating in the Court’s Adult Recovery Court (ARC) at the time she committed the offenses. Just a few months prior to being arrested on the charges, Haynes participated in a whitewater rafting trip on the New River in West Virginia with members of the ARC treatment team, including Judge Braig. The presentence investigation report indicated Haynes laughed with her buyer when she mentioned that she was in the ARC program.
"We know that not everybody who enters ARC will complete it successfully,” Judge Braig said. “Many people take advantage of the efforts and resources provided by the treatment team to recover from a substance use disorder, grow, and lead compliant and better lives. Obviously, the outcome in Ms. Haynes’ case is disappointing. The outcome is within the range of possible outcomes. But it is on the extreme side of the negative outcomes. We remain committed and enthusiastic about helping people with substance abuse disorders transform their lives.”
Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart and Haynes’ defense counsel, John Cunningham, recommended a lighter sentence. Judge Braig did not accept the recommendation.
“Under the totality of the circumstances of this case, it is the view of the Court that a stiffer sanction is both necessary and appropriate,” Judge Braig said.