Norfolk Recovery Court Ceremony Recognizes 2 Women Achieving Sobriety, Graduating From Therapeutic Incarceration Alternative Program
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Recovery Court recognized two women on March 20 for their commitments to sobriety and their completion of supervised probation, marking an end to their involvement with the criminal justice system as a product of their substance-use disorders. Recovery Court, formerly known as Drug Court, is a rehabilitative Norfolk Circuit Court docket program serving as an alternative to incarceration for which defendants convicted of certain nonviolent offenses may qualify.
During the March 20 ceremony, 42-year-old Lynetta Alisha Wilson and 25-year-old Misa Wells graduated from Recovery Court and were released from supervised probation. Ms. Wilson has a criminal history dating from 2000, including convictions for 20 felonies and 10 misdemeanors, and she pleaded into Recovery Court in August 2023 following convictions for violating probation, failing to appear in court, and a drug-related offense. Ms. Wells has a criminal history dating from 2020, including four felonies and six misdemeanors, and she also pleaded into Recovery Court in August 2023 following convictions for driving while intoxicated and possessing Schedule I/II drugs. Because their criminal histories involved nonviolent offenses and they pleaded guilty to their most recent charges, both women qualified for the Recovery Court program.
Ms. Wilson and Ms. Wells were commended by their treatment providers during the ceremony for completing Recovery Court within 18 months — which is the intended duration of the program — and without reprimand. Many Recovery Court participants take significantly longer to complete the program. Ms. Wilson was described by her treatment provider as an “innovator and motivator.” Ms. Wells was lauded as “highly responsible,” and her treatment provider expressed hope that, due to her young age, Ms. Wells will find great success in her future endeavors.
“I am so happy for Ms. Wilson and Ms. Wells, who after many years of suffering and criminal convictions have found their way to sobriety and to new beginnings,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I am proud that my office and Norfolk have been the home of the first or one of the first Recovery Courts, Mental Health Courts, Veterans Dockets, and Reentry Dockets in Virginia. We believe in innovation, and we believe in second chances for those who qualify and who are willing to accept help. Convictions and imprisonment are band-aids on a problem. Rehabilitation heals the underlying wound, gives people new life, and makes us all safer.”
###