WAILUKU — A man who said he was working to get back on track after his drug addiction led to crimes was placed on four years’ probation Thursday.

“I’m just ready to move on with my life,” Danny Collier said in court. “What I used to do, it was just bad. I lost everything — family, house, myself.”

He said his outlook changed during the 48 days he spent in jail last year.

“From a no-can to a can,” he said.

After posting a bail bond to be released, Collier, 44, completed drug treatment and got a job.

He also was helping his wife and co-defendant Desiree Collier-Kauhaahaa, 38, as she participates in the Maui Drug Court program of intensive treatment and supervision, said defense attorney Chris Dunn.

“This is actually a success story in the making,” Dunn said. “This is the second-to-the-last chapter in that story.”

Dunn said Collier would write the final chapter himself, either with a happy ending or relapse.

In three cases, Collier had pleaded no contest to unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, two counts of second-degree theft, four counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, five counts of credit card theft and three counts of third-degree theft. Nearly all of the crimes occurred May 20, 2017.

Collier’s addiction led him to acquire and possess illegal drugs, Dunn said.

“Along with that comes a normalization of anti-social behavior,” he said. “You become neglectful of your personal life. You’re living a life that is underground and criminal to acquire this thing.

“Then it leads to breaking into a car to steal somebody’s purse.”

He said Collier had been a “somewhat functional addict for several years.”

“Then it was a downward spiral,” Dunn said. “It was him and his wife together.”

He said Collier had been sober for 10 months and completed the drug treatment as a “refresher of what he already learned in Drug Court.”

Collier had criminal charges dismissed when he graduated from Drug Court in October 2003, court records show.

Second Circuit Judge Peter Cahill followed a plea agreement recommending probation and no additional jail for Collier.

“Everything here says I should send you to prison, really, and you know that,” Cahill told Collier. “Because you’re a Drug Court graduate. These aren’t just possession cases. These are crimes.”

But the judge said he would give Collier a chance.

Cahill called attention to one of Collier’s cases, which involved a woman’s purse stolen from St. Joseph Church in Makawao.

“That is just reprehensible,” Cahill said. “It’s so awful especially because most churches are open all the time.

“Somehow, you need to correct that,” Cahill said.

“I agree,” Collier said.