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Heroin addicted mother of 5 gets scolding from judge
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A woman sentenced Wednesday after being found passed out on a South Avenue bench from shooting up heroin was asked by Municipal Judge Elizabeth Kobly how many children she had.
Lisa Wright, 33, of North Osborne Ave., started listing their ages and kept going until she got to five — leaving those in the courtroom with shock on their faces.
Even Judge Kobly, who is rarely at a loss for words, was silent for a moment, her mouth wide open.
“Your children are addicted as well,” Judge Kobly finally said.
Wright slowly shook her head. “I stopped using when I was pregnant,” she answered.
“I can’t believe you chose heroin over your children. I can’t believe that,” Judge Kobly said.
Wright was nodding her head as the judge spoke.
Wright pleaded no contest and was found guilty on charges of possessing drug abuse instruments and obstructing justice. She was found by police about 5:30 p.m. July 21 passed out on a bench in the 2600 block of South Avenue. She had a needle and spoon in her purse and appeared to be under the influence of a drug when she was revived, police reports said. She also gave police several fake identities and it took officers 20 minutes to find out her real name, assistant city Prosecutor Jeffrey Moliterno said.
Wright told the judge her children are age 17, 15, 14, 9 and 7 and that she’s been using heroin since she was 20. When asked why she started, Wright said she began with pills when she was 13.
“I was doing pills since I was 13 and I just started doing heroin,” Wright said. “It was cheaper and easier to get.”
She told the judge she has never gotten treatment for her addiction, mainly because she is always in and out of jail or prison. She said she gets her heroin from a friend, who is also addicted. She said she recently did a stint in prison for burglary to support her heroin habit, but a check of local court records shows only misdemeanor offenses for her.
Her attorney, Desirae Dipiero, asked for some type of drug treatment as part of her sentence. The judge said she was not sure treatment would work for Wright.
“If having five children doesn’t stop you from using heroin, there’s nothing I can do,” Judge Kobly said.
Wright said her mother takes care of her children for her.
Dipiero said her client wants to be in jail because it helps her to stay clean.
She did say Wright was also truthful – and desperate – to her when they spoke.
“She has prayed to go back on the street and wind up dead,” Dipiero said.
Judge Kobly found Wright guilty and gave her a sentence of 120 days in jail, with credit for 15 days served since she was arrested. “Not only have you thrown your life away, you’ve also thrown away the lives of your children,” Judge Kobly said.