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WAILUKU -- A six-month jail term was ordered for a man who was convicted of abusing his former girlfriend and burning her car last year, less than a year after he graduated from the Maui Drug Court.
John Granger, 33, of Lahaina said he relapsed and started using drugs again within days of having felony charges dismissed in May 2017 when he graduated from the program of intensive drug treatment and supervision.
"So almost three years of Drug Court did not do one thing for Mr. Granger to deter him," 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen said in sentencing Granger on Feb. 13.
Granger is among 15 percent of Drug Court graduates who recidivate within five years of graduating, Bissen said.
"You started recidivating within five days," the judge told Granger. "Sounds like you were faking the whole time."
Granger said he "got a lot out of" the time he spent in the program.
"But I did develop some resentments along the way," he said. "Shortly after graduation I wen' start using again. That was the worst time of my using. Nothing came together. Everything I accumulated wen' fall apart."
He said he hadn't worked on deeper issues while in Drug Court.
"It wasn't even the drugs," he said. "It was that fear I had in me since I was one kid."
In two criminal cases, Granger had pleaded no contest to felony abuse and second-degree arson.
Both cases involved the same victim, said Deputy Prosecutor Lyle Keanini.
On April 4, Granger burned the woman's vehicle because she wasn't answering her phone, Keanini said.
Then on May 13, she was pushed and struck in her left arm and face and strangled when Granger put both hands around her neck, Keanini said.
He noted that the crimes occurred less than a year after Granger graduated from Drug Court. "So he should have known better," Keanini said.
Granger asked to be released after already spending more than five months in jail.
Granger is no longer involved in a "volatile relationship" with the woman, said Deputy Public Defender Tyler Stevenson. He said Granger was working toward a college degree and has two children with his fiancee.
Granger described the victim as a "chronic girlfriend."
Before following a plea agreement to place Granger on five years' probation, Judge Bissen asked why he shouldn't sentence Granger to prison, as the probation department recommended.
"All I can say is it's not that I feel I deserve one chance," Granger said. "I just asking for an opportunity."
Granger was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs as part of his probation.
* Lils Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.