By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Imagine being arrested for dealing meth, serving several years in prison, and then being applauded in public for an impressive transformation by judges, counselors, and even the patrolman who arrested you.
That’s what unfolded on Wednesday when a large crowd gathered in Superiod Court 1 to celebrate Brandon Warren’s turnaround that culminated when he became the first graduate of Kosciusko County’s new reentry program run by Superior Court 1 Judge Karin McGrath.
The program is lengthy, focuses on accountability, and involves intensive drug testing while helping put participants on a path to a new life.
On Wednesday, a large group of people connected to Warren’s recovery celebrated his graduation from the program.
One of those was Indiana State Police Trooper Jonathan Price, who recalled the night he arrested Warren as part of a large sweep of drug arrests.
Price remembers Warren and another man whom he also helped arrest that night.
“I remember you and the other guy because of how different your guys’ stories have been,” Price said. “You’re sitting here graduating from reentry and starting to get your life back. The other guy – it’s been a few years ago – overdosed on fentanyl and was left on a sidewalk dead for about half an hour before somebody found him.”
“It’s disheartening because I see that side of it more than I see your side of it,” Price added.
Price and others congratulated Warren on his recovery.
The program is certified by the state, highly structured and continues for months.
While it is similar to the county’s community recovery program that works to assist offenders as they prepare to move beyond incarceration, the court reentry program is certified by the state, highly structured, and continues for months.
For Warren, it’s been a rigorous nine-month program that led to him securing a new career as a peer recovery coach with LITE.
Judge McGrath was effusive in her praise for Warren.
“I have marveled at your commitment to rebuild your life, to become the very best version of yourself, reconnecting with your family, people who mean the world to you,” McGrath said.
“I am thrilled that you have found your new calling in life to help other people — a powerful thing,” she said. “You have indeed exemplified precisely what we hope and expect from our participants,” McGrath added.
Sheriff Jim Smith congratulated Warren and said the reentry program is yet another component that is adding to a growing synergy in the local recovery environment.
“It’s more than one person or organization going in the same direction for something bigger than all of us,” Smith said.
“If you’re willing to put the work in, I think we’ve shown in Kociusko County that there is a plethora of people and resources that are going to be there to help,” Smith said.
Warren spoke at the end of the ceremony, and his message was filled with gratitude, saying he is blessed and fortunate to have a family and a reentry program that offers structure and support.
“Recovery is about recovering your life, and that’s hard … and if it wasn’t for reentry and the board and my family and friends and loved ones, it would have been significantly harder, and I wouldn’t be where I am in my life today without those people supporting me,” Warren said.
“I think it’s important to take a minute to understand there’s so many people that don’t have that support and don’t have those people to help them … they don’t have enough structure, enough positive people in their life, which is part of the reason I became a peer source professional and took a position with LITE Recovery which is fantastic people doing wonderful things and … making a positive impact every day,” he said.
As a result of his graduation, Warren’s remaining prison sentence will be modified, and he will now serve a year on probation, McGrath said.
