In this court, veterans have their backs when support is needed the most

By Jeff Winter, CNN

(CNN) — When Greg Pryer served in the Marine Corps three decades ago and then worked as a New York City police officer who experienced the trauma of September 11, alcohol was his go-to coping mechanism.

After retiring from the NYPD in 2015, his drinking habit only worsened, he said. Without the job, he had no structure or direction, just time, memories and the bottle.

“I went from being a veteran and being in law enforcement, over 20 years of really having an obvious purpose, and retirement somewhat stripped me of my identity,” said Pryer, who retired as a sergeant. “All I had, in a way, was my alcohol to deal with it.”

With liquor running his life, Pryer was arrested in 2019 on weapons and driving while intoxicated charges, and again in 2022 on similar weapons charges, in New York’s Suffolk County, on Long Island. He had been in courtrooms plenty of times as a cop. Being in one as a defendant was a difficult reality to accept.

Because of his military service, Pryer was eligible to have his cases transferred to the Suffolk County Veterans Treatment Court. A specialized part of the local court system, vets court helps troubled service members get into drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs and mental health counseling in lieu of doing jail time. Veterans who complete their court-monitored treatments can have their sentences reduced, or charges dropped.

“Yes, it’ll help out your legal situation, but it’s also a chance to work on yourself, whatever that underlying issue that brought you into the legal system to begin with,” Pryer said. “It’s really a blessing that the court picked me up.”

For 15 years, hundreds of struggling vets like Pryer have received a lifeline through Suffolk’s veterans treatment court, run by those who served just like they did. Today, nearly 750 similar programs are found in 49 states, according to Department of Veterans Affairs data.

Like so many fellow veterans, Pryer was not aware of the treatment court’s existence until he wound up in the criminal justice system.

“I had to learn the hard way,” Pryer said.

The judge doesn’t wear a robe

The country’s first specialized court for vets started in 2008 in Buffalo, New York. Two years later, Judge John Toomey, a Vietnam War combat veteran, worked with the Suffolk district attorney’s office, the local VA health care system and a small group of volunteers known as the Green Jackets to create the Suffolk County Veterans Treatment Court.

The idea was so new it had no set guidelines or rules, providing Toomey and company freedom to develop their operation from scratch. Toomey, a two-time recipient of the Bronze Star, set a casual tone: He didn’t wear a robe on the bench, knew veteran defendants by name, and talked with their families about life at home. He even gave out his phone number.

“You had to put your trust that this is going to work out, and that this (person) is going to do the right thing,” Toomey said.

It worked because the veterans in the program wanted to get better. Toomey said they could have gone through the regular court system, served a few months of jail time and gone right back to what they were doing before their arrest.

The court accepts vets arrested for a gamut of crimes, including driving while intoxicated, misdemeanor and felony drug charges, robbery and criminal possession of weapons.

“They made the decision they want to turn their lives around. They’re sick of what’s going on,” Toomey said. “It gives you an advantage in helping them.”

To ensure accountability, the DA’s office developed a screening process to evaluate eligible veterans. A small team of prosecutors who either served in the military or have a deep understanding of veterans’ issues review criminal and combat history and other factors to assess whether they’re a good fit for the program, according to a spokesperson for the DA’s office.

Once they’re in the court, veterans participate in rehabilitation programs tailored to their individual needs. Varying in length depending on the charges, they include mental health and addiction counseling administered by the VA, with treatments managed by a VA counselor.

They’re also required to make regular court appearances so the judge can monitor their progress and adjust the individual’s program as needed.

Vets get picked up when they fall

Toomey left in 2018, and today Judge Pierce F. Cohalan presides.

An Army reservist with a high-and-tight haircut, Cohalan keeps proceedings in the small, gray courtroom informal and personal, routinely asking defendants how he can help them. Like his predecessor, he doesn’t wear a robe.

For Cohalan, the program is about progress, not perfection. If participants make mistakes or relapse, they’re not kicked out.

Pryer, for example, first entered the program in 2019 following an arrest for criminal possession of a weapon and driving while intoxicated, then re-entered it after he was arrested on similar weapons charges in 2022.

He was sentenced to three years of probation in April after completing veterans court, according to a court system spokesperson.

“A number of participants misstep,” Cohalan said. “We’re here to catch them or to pick them up, and to keep them moving forward.”

Navigating sobriety, court appearances, therapy and lawyers can be overwhelming.

A volunteer group of vets uniformed in kelly green bomber jackets is there to help. The Green Jackets, mostly Vietnam vets, mentor and guide defendants through the process. Volunteer Grace Mehl, a 20-year veteran of the Navy, explained how shared experiences in combat or in the court allows participants to trust them, and, ultimately, to succeed.

“The more they can talk to us about their issues, the more they get it off their chest, the more they can start to see answers,” Mehl said.

Melissa, who asked for her last name not to be used, is a great example of how it works.

“When she first came, she was a piece of work. She was just all over the place,” Mehl said.

Two years ago, Melissa had an order of protection against her, wore an ankle monitor, used drugs. Her family wanted nothing to do with her. Melissa called her life “completely just a disaster.”

After she was arrested for violating that protection order, Melissa said, she reluctantly accepted transferring to vets court, but wanted nothing to do with anyone in it. But Mehl and others eased her into the program, gained her trust and supported her as she trudged the road to recovery.

“They just directed me toward where I was supposed to be. And step by step, they opened doors for me,” said Melissa, who served in the Navy in the 1990s.

As of November, Melissa said, she was two years sober and reconnected with her mother, whom she talks with daily.

‘Honored to do it’

Camaraderie is key to the success of the Suffolk veterans court, where former service members enact a new mission within the most elemental military tradition: having another soldier’s back.

The court boasts a 90% success rate for the hundreds of veteran participants, according to Cohalan.

Frank D’Aversa, a Green Jackets founding member, has been with the court since its inception. Being shunned by World War II and Korean War veterans when he returned from Vietnam propelled him to get involved.

His group operates on a simple conviction: “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” D’Aversa said.

Pryer, a D’Aversa mentee who served four years in the Marines, was recently invited to become a Green Jacket. For Pryer, 18 months sober and a two-time graduate of vets court, it’s an opportunity to give back the gift he got in the program, to help vets through the system he’s seen as both a lawman and a defendant.

“I am honored to do it today,” he said.

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