Deborah Brackett

Sentence: 10 years
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine
Priors: None
Year sentenced: 2002
Age at sentencing: 41
Projected release date: Feb 11, 2011
 
Debbie passed away from cancer one day before she was set to be released from prison. During her incarceration, she lost both her mother and father. Debbie is remembered by her friend Pam as “the kindest person I have ever met.”
 
Deborah began abusing methamphetamine at age 18. Her addiction escalated when she married her husband in 1986.  Together, they consumed about half a gram of methamphetamine a day until Deborah became pregnant with her eldest son.  Concerned for the health of her child and determined to overcome her addiction, Deborah left her husband, moved in with her mother and managed to stay clean.  She worked as a nurse for almost a decade. Unfortunately, Deborah suffered a relapse in 1998, resulting in her eventual arrest.
 
In October 1998, Deborah started selling small amounts of methamphetamine to finance her own addiction.  That April, she learned that her supplier had been arrested.  She became scared and stopped selling the drug.  In September 1999 local police searched Deborah’s residence. A friend of Deborah’s was staying at her place at the time and the two would occasionally use meth together. Police found 3.57 grams of methamphetamine in the friend’s purse, along with drug paraphernalia, scales, ledgers and a gun located in Deborah’s room.  Deborah claims the gun was for protection: several murders had recently been committed in her neighborhood. Deborah was arrested, but her case was dismissed in lieu of her federal sentence. 
 
In March 2000, Deborah was arrested after one of her codefendants informed authorities about Deborah’s drug use in exchange for sentencing leniency.  Based solely on the word of this codefendant, the government estimated that Deborah sold 1.41 kilograms of methamphetamine from October 1998 to April 2000.
 
Deborah pled guilty, but was ineligible for the safety valve, a judicial protection for first-time nonviolent offenders, due to the gun enhancement from her previous state arrest, she. She received a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence. Deborah’s three codefendants received sentences of 14 years, four years and three years.
 
While released on bond before sentencing, Deborah sought professional treatment to fight her addiction. She joined DAIRE, a drug treatment facility in Texas, and Narcotics Anonymous and received excellent reports. Unfortunately, Deborah’s gun enhancement prevents her from receiving the one-year reduction from participating in 500-hour Residential Drug Abuse Program in federal prison.
 
Deborah has two young children, one of whom has Down syndrome.  Before her incarceration, Deborah was the primary care provider for three sick family members: her nephew, who is paralyzed from the chest down; her father, who has prostate cancer, diabetes and deteriorating hips that will confine him to a wheelchair; and her sister, who was brought back to life after a massive heart attack and now lives with a defibrillator in her chest.  Deborah’s family, especially her children, have been irreversibly damaged by her long sentence.