A Mitchell woman will serve 180 days in jail for violating her probation.
Kellie Eske-Delaney, 35, requested treatment Tuesday to get help for her addiction to opiates. Eske-Delaney possessed a controlled substance in April 2012 and received a suspended prison sentence. Her attorney, Phil Carlson, said, "Kellie has a serious drug addiction problem. It led her to places she didn't want to go."
He asked the court to allow Eske-Delaney to attend outpatient treatment at the Keystone facility in Sioux Falls.
"She's not a person to send to the penitentiary," Carlson said. "I think this is a drug issue, not an issue with violence, and I'm unaware of any violent behavior in her past."
Eske-Delaney told the court she found probation to be much more difficult than she expected, and now understands the seriousness of her drug addiction. Her biggest obstacle was relapsing and using methamphetamine and marijuana while on probation.
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Eske-Delaney will immediately serve 90 days of her 180-day sentence and will receive 64 days credit for time served. She will then serve 45 days before Feb. 1, 2014, and 45 days before Feb. 1, 2015.
If she is able to obtain a spot at the Keystone treatment facility in Sioux Falls, Judge Tim Bjorkman said she will go to treatment there upon her release.
