NORWICH – Two people were scheduled to appear in Chenango County court Tuesday with the possibility they would be more lenient treatment for their drug- motivated crimes. Instead, both defendants admitted they’d violated court orders with their continued substance abuse and both were placed behind bars.

“We can’t tolerate people breaking the law just because they’re drug users,” Supreme Court Judge Kevin M. Dowd told one defendant after revoking the possibility of attending Chenango County Drug Court. He sentenced the defendant to state prison after the teen tested positive for marijuana use while applying for the program.

First to appear was admitted drunk driver 49-year-old Terri M. Furgeson, who pleaded guilty and was released in October on the condition she not drink alcohol. She was due to report back to the court to receive sentence in January; Dowd had said he would consider a lighter term if she remained out of trouble.

But Furgeson was arrested again on her birthday, Dec. 13, in the Town of Afton for driving while intoxicated and operating a reportedly stolen car. Although arrested in Chenango, the stolen car was a Broome County case and is pending in Broome County Court. She was indicted for another charge of felony DWI by a Chenango County grand jury Wednesday.

Furgeson spoke at length in court about how the arrest was a misunderstanding, but she did admit to consuming alcohol, a violation of the terms of her original release.

“That issue is not before this court and you may well be innocent of the charge. As I sit here I honestly don’t know, but I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt; that’s what our system does. If I knew you were guilty, you’d be getting a much stiffer sentence, I can promise you that though,” said Dowd in reference to the pending charges. “What’s before this court is that you were released under certain terms, one of them being not to consume alcohol and in general be a well behaved person. You couldn’t do that, so here we are. You admit to drinking alcohol even though you were ordered not to. It doesn’t matter if it was a birthday or a holiday – you knew you were under the magnifying glass.”

Furgeson told Dowd this was the first time she had consumed alcohol since being released and that it was a one-time occurrence.

“I’m sorry I screwed up,” she said. “I don’t understand how over one mistake my life is going to be ruined,” she said. Furgeson told the court through tears of the difficulties she was facing in her personal life as a result of her arrest, including financial trouble resulting in the loss of her house.

“It wasn’t just one mistake,” responded Dowd, flipping through Furgeson’s report. He said she had been arrested around 20 times and been given multiple chances to avoid the situation she was currently in.

Dowd sentenced her to one year at the Chenango County Correctional Facility. Her case in Broome County is pending and she has pleaded not guilty to the charges.