Clean break

 A self-employed contractor from Middletown Springs told a judge he lost his business, hundreds of thousand of dollars, and nearly his family and his own life to his heroin addiction.

Perry Lowell, 41, admitted forging two checks totaling $40,000 to help fund his heroin habit. That landed him in Rutland District Court on Thursday and almost in jail for a lengthy prison term.

But Judge Nancy Corsones said she was impressed by his turnaround in the past 18 months, given he had fallen so far so fast.

"I don't know if I've seen anybody go down the tubes as quick as you," she told Lowell. "From August 2001 to December 2001, losing everything, that's huge."

Lowell told the judge he credited his turnaround, in part, to his participation in a clinic in Burlington that tested the effectiveness of buprenorphine in treating heroin addition.

He said the medication not only helped to curb his craving for heroin, but the two-hour drive each way from his home to Burlington gave him time alone to reflect on his life.

"I just wanted to stop it," he said of his addiction. "The focus changed for me. I was running for help."

Corsones sentenced Lowell to four to 10 years in jail, all suspended on probation, on two counts of forgery involving checks totaling $40,000. She also ordered him to pay the Chittenden Bank restitution of $55,000, which includes interest and attorney's fees for the bank.

She said Lowell is the first heroin addict she has seen in court who has treated his addiction with buprenorphine.

"You are a walking poster child for the fact that it works," Corsones told him.

Lowell said he has battled addiction for most his life, from alcohol and cocaine to Oxycontin and heroin.

He said he had cleaned himself up and started his own contractor business with gross revenues of $500,000 or more a year, and he was earning a salary of well over $100,000.

However, his troubles started again in 1996, when he fell 27 feet out of a tree stand, breaking several bones.

Lowell said the injuries left him in constant pain. One day, in August 2001, while on a job site, he ran out of his prescription painkillers. One of his employees offered him Oxycontin, a highly addictive prescription painkiller.Lowell said the first pill worked so well that he kept taking them day after day and, when the employee had no more, he turned to heroin.

Like Oxycontin, heroin is an opiate. He said he had no idea where the drug would lead him.

"I was a Marine," he said. "I thought I was bulletproof."

One heroin bag led to more and soon he was hooked, Lowell said, spending thousands of dollars a month on the drug. He said heroin was easy to buy off the streets.

Lowell said he tried to kick the habit on his own, spending days in bed at home and going to the hospital. But he met with no success.

There were even times he overdosed on the drug, he said.

"It got control of me and I couldn't stop," Lowell said. "I tried it all, nothing worked, not even the court, the jail. Nobody could stop me."

When he learned of the clinic in Burlington, he gave it try. He said he used his last bag on heroin the day before his first tip to clinic. On the trips to clinic he said he would listen to a Christian radio station.

"It gave me the connection with God," he said. "I sought him and here I am. I'm alive today."

Lowell told the judge he is currently unemployed, but has plans to start his business again. He said he wants to pay back all the money he owes, which totals hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He said he has reunited with his wife and two children.

Lowell testified that he keeps a careful eye on the pain medication, which includes methadone and another painkiller.

Deputy State's Attorney Peter Neary said in court Thursday that while Lowell has made progress, he still wanted safeguards in place to ensure that he stays drug-free.

In addition to restitution, Neary called for Lowell to serve a sentence of zero to 10 years in jail on one forgery charge and five to 10 years on probation on the other.

The jail sentence would allow Lowell to be furloughed almost immediately, and provide the strictest supervision available outside prison.

"We don't know what the future will hold," Neary said. "This is the type of case that needs some serious potential consequences."

Defense attorney Karl Anderson argued for a lesser sentence of probation. He said Lowell had proven in the last 18 months that he can stay clean and keep away from drugs.

"Now he's his own best friend as far as keeping himself on the straight and narrow," Anderson said. "He used to be his own worst enemy. Now, he's turned the corner."

Corsones said she didn't see a need for a jail sentence, especially since Lowell had so much money to pay in restitution and had a treatment plan in place that involved a doctor and a clinical psychologist.

She said she wanted him to be with family, which includes his wife and two children.

"I will cross my fingers until I sign the discharge on your probation," Corsones told him

Lowell said outside of court that he wanted to share a message with others suffering from heroin addiction.

"This drug cuts across all level of society," he said. "I want everybody to know there is hope. It just takes time."