Meth Clogs Tom Green County's Courthouse, Bogging Down Justice System

SAN ANGELO, TX --  The demand for methamphetamine and other drugs has filled court dockets across Texas forcing counties to spend untold millions to combat the growing drug problem.  Prosecutors and defense attorneys spend hours in the courtroom with several defendants just appearing before a judge to setup more hearings before reaching plea agreements as the justice system slowly grinds out verdicts.  Methamphetamine, or meth possession leads the docket for offenses alleged. 

Meth is highly addictive, even from the first use of the drug. The sooner a meth user receives treatment, the better his or her chances are of not having a relapse, according to The American Addiction Centers. 

District Judge Ben Woodward sat behind the bench in courtroom A Tuesday afternoon with a docket that included 90 pretrial hearings.  The largest courtroom in the Tom Green County Courthouse was packed with inmates, clad in the signature orange jumpsuits and rubber shoes from the Tom Green County Jail, taking up the back half of the courtroom. At the same time, defendants out on bond along with family and friends packed in the front pews in the courtroom.  

Judge Woodward at the beginning of the hearings told the defendants that if this was a defendant's first felony offense for drug possession he or she will be eligible for probation.  He told each that probation comes with some type of court-ordered drug treatment and he encouraged those who qualified to meet with their attorneys and begin a treatment program now instead of waiting for their case to be heard in court.  Woodward told the crowd that if they were having a heart attack they would seek treatment now and not wait. He encouraged them to look at treatment for drug addiction the same way they look at treatment for a heart attack.

Meth is not the only drug impacting our county's district courts.

Wednesday morning in District Judge Brad Goodwin’s courtroom three defendants appeared for different hearings and drugs and addiction were at the heart of each case.  One defendant was in court requesting an occupational driver’s license. He admitted that he is an alcoholic and has struggled all of his adult life. Judge Goodwin denied the request for the occupational license.

Next was Michael Angelo Provost.  The 18-year-old admitted that he was taking Xanax illegally when he and four friends vandalized Cornerstone Christian School.  Provost said during questioning that he lives with his parents and doesn’t have a job and isn’t going to school. A clearly agitated Judge Goodwin accepted a deal that put Provost on pretrial diversion for two years and ordered him to pay $9,500 in restitution.  Judge Goodwin warned Provost that this was a chance to turn his life around.

Israel Mireles Echeverria took a plea deal for a sexual assault of a child that sends him to prison for five years.  Echeverria also had a felony drug possession charge that was dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.

The docket continues with drug cases Wednesday afternoon with pretrial hearings, plea hearings and motion to revoke hearings in the Tom Green County courthouse.