LIMA — Brad Dietrich has made steady progress on the road to sobriety since being released from prison in February, and he’s had a few helping hands along the way.
Doug DeWeese is Dietrich’s probation officer and oversees some three dozen participants in the Allen County Re-entry Court, of which Dietrich is a participant.
The court, operated by Judge David Cheney of Allen County Common Pleas Court, is intended to be a support system for those individuals who have a lengthy criminal record or are coming off a lengthy prison stay on judicial release. The re-entry program, geared toward individuals with a moderate- to high-risk of repeating their past criminal behavior, runs for up to 14 months and helps participants reconnect with the community and attempts to put them into a position to succeed.
“Brad is the poster boy for Re-entry Court,” DeWeese said. “Typically, when individuals gain judicial release they struggle. But to Brad’s credit, he came out [of prison] with so much drive … so much push. He took advantage of all the resources the court had to offer, because he had the desire to never go back to jail again.”
DeWeese said the hardest things for people with a criminal past to change are people, places and things. But Dietrich “has an overwhelming desire to not only help himself but to help others. To have that level of drive to give back to the community is unique,” the probation officer said.
Dietrich is taking college classes at Rhodes State College and plans to become a drug counselor.
DeWeese said Dietrich was also fortunate to have the support of his previous employer. An employee of Westgate Lanes before his incarceration, Andy and Wes Johnston, owners of the Lima bowling center, welcomed Dietrich back to work upon his release from prison. Within three months he had been promoted to the position of kitchen manager.
“He’s been phenomenal since he’s been back,” Wes Johnston said. “He’s got the respect of everybody back there” in the kitchen.
Andy Johnston said he and Dietrich kept in contact during the seven years Dietrich spent in prison.
“We felt that even before he went to prison he was a great employee, and I talked to him on the phone a few times and he told me what he was doing while in prison to make himself right,” Andy Johnston said. “I had a good feeling that this was someone deserving of a second chance, and he’s proven that. He’s a hard worker. He’s done a phenomenal job.”
DeWeese said Cheney is yet another advocate on whom Re-entry Court participants can rely.
“Judge Cheney has a genuine level of concern for everybody in the program,” DeWeese said. “He’s always asking them how they’re doing and showing a real interest in their lives, and that helps the clients buy in to being part of the group.”
But it’s Dietrich’s mother who serves as his primary support system.
“She’s always been there for me,” Brad said.
He is living with his mother, but that’s just a temporary thing.
“I’ll have a car in two weeks and I’ve been buying stuff to refurnish an apartment. Within two or three months I will have the deposit for an apartment,” he said.
Dietrich dedicated his book, “meth·an·chol·y,” to his mother, “who struggled through it all with me.”
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