Los Angeles criminal defense attorney J. Tooson of Lessem, Newstat & Tooson, LLP was recently called on by PEOPLE Magazine to provide insight into the case of celebrity Cameron Douglas, who was recently released from prison after he was convicted of selling methamphetamine and possessing heroin in 2010. Originally sentenced to five years in prison, he was given an additional sentence after he confessed to smuggling drugs into prison. He was set to be released in 2018, but is now living in a halfway house in Brooklyn.
"One of the primary requirements for him is going to be mandatory drug testing," Mr. Tooson told PEOPLE. "If he does test positive he would be subjected to additional jail time. He's going to be subject to search and seizure, and when he gets out of the halfway house, to check in with his federal probation officer and notify him of his residence, [which] they can search at any given time.”
Douglas will be on a “short leash,” according to Mr. Tooson. "Although technically he is done [with his prison sentence], if there are any violations, including positive drug tests or failed tests – meaning he misses the test, he's subject to go back to prison.” He predicts that the first two years of Douglas’ five-year probationary period will be the toughest, and that he will have a long road ahead of him.
Tooson also notes that Douglas’ story is a familiar one. Criminalizing addiction, he believes, does nothing to remove the underlying problem. "I think people have to understand that he's human and when you battle these addictions, oftentimes you will stumble along the way. Each and every time an individual stumbles, we give them more jail time, more prison, it does nothing to address the underlying issue."
To read more on this story, visit PEOPLE Magazine online: What’s Next for Cameron Douglas Following Prison Release?
