Calais woman convicted of robbery in 2001 admitted into Drug Court

CALAIS – A local woman who was sentenced to seven years in state prison for a 2001 robbery involving drugs when she was 18 was back in court Friday – for a better disposition.

Jayme Gibson, serving six years of probation, gained admission to the Washington County Adult Drug Treatment Court after Judge John Romei heard support from her probation officers and opposition from the state.

In a hearing to determine Gibson’s fitness for the demanding, yearlong program, Gibson’s past – including a juvenile record with assaults and the 2001 robbery and aggravated assault as an adult – was laid out as a lesson for all in the courtroom.

The attention given Gibson was just part of an unusually long Friday session. It took the judge three hours to handle an array of issues and occasions amid the usual business of Drug Court.

A state program serving several counties around the state, Drug Court works with adults to achieve total abstinence from alcohol and other drugs. Those admitted have had their sentences lessened in exchange for compliance with the conditions of the program and a successful graduation from it.

Friday was Family Day in Calais, for which the court’s participants bring a family member in support of their recovery. There was the graduation from the program of Baileyville’s Byron “BJ” Sanford, who has attended more than 340 recovery meetings in the last year.

“BJ has turned his life around, and I am convinced he has the tools to do well,” Romei told the court. “It has been a privilege to have him in our program.”

There was also the more somber moment when a woman was kicked out for issues of honesty and violations of her program contract. The judge ordered the woman, who had started in the program 10 months ago with all good intentions to stay clean, to serve 16 months with the Department of Corrections as part of her pre-Drug Court sentence for assaulting a police officer in 2002.

While the judge acknowledged disappointment in that woman’s outcome, he was willing to take on the case of Gibson.

In May 2001 Gibson had been part of a robbery and assault, using a tire iron on another young drug user who had been lured by Gibson and two friends to a Calais cemetery.

Gibson was sentenced in Washington County Superior Court to seven years with all but 21/2 years suspended, followed by six years’ probation, for her role.

She was released nine months ago, became manager of a McDonald’s in Biddeford, then relapsed.

She realized the severity of her situation and returned to Calais to reunite with her family. She appealed to her Calais-area probation officer, Bill Love, to support her attempt to join the Washington County Drug Court.

Assistant District Attorney Bill Entwisle addressed the state’s opposition to her admission, citing her past as a violent person. Drug Court admission procedures require “heightened scrutiny” for applicants with convictions involving Class A, B and C crimes, including robbery, arson, assault, use of “dangerous weapons” and other offenses.

But Love stated his support – “I think she’s a good candidate; she’s remarkably receptive” – and the judge listened.

“You have been transformed from a criminal defendant to a Drug Court client,” Romei told Gibson. “I and all the other clients welcome you.”

Friday’s Drug Court had it all – a graduation, a new admission, a sanction, a termination and the involvement of family members, including several who stood up for the woman who was being returned to jail.