Johnathan Barker was facing 32 years in prison when he finally broke his addiction to drugs and alcohol.
He was passed out in his car, outside the dangerous Evans Avenue apartment building where he lived, when police officers found him and arrested him in 2021. He was charged with DUI and drug possession, which compounded on illegal firearm charges from earlier that year.
Barker was sent to Denver’s sobriety court, where he was told he could avoid decades in prison if he stayed clean, got a job and secured a driver’s license. He was scared, and he wasn’t sure he could do it…