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but i got to accept my consequences. >> michael parapar walked up to an inmate in the drc program and took all his commissary and decided to tell the guy he needed to beg for them to get them back. >> i thought we were a lot more cooler than we were and i thought it was all fun and games and somebody else thought it wasn't. >> i was aware of the incident, brought him into my office, i questioned him about the incident. at that point he admitted everything he did. i thought he was doing great. i mean, he was on his 68th day. the day before this incident i was telling my sergeant that i can't believe the growth that he's made. he was doing everything perfect. >> i wish i could go back to the program, but -- >> he's a guy i can't have back here. to me, what he did was that serious, unfortunately, he blew his shot. >> parapar's friend aaron sofield is approaching his end in the program.
and his girlfriend are housed in separate wings and can't see each other, costa says it's good to be under the same roof with her. >> and i miss the [ bleep ] out of her, and i feel closer to her now being in here. i know we're going through it together. >> i feel dead without him. it's not that i feel weak. it is not because of lack of nutrition or anything, but it is lack of thomas. >> costas and schlossberg hope to qualify for the new jersey court drug perhaps. it was set up to help offenders with drug charges avoid jail or prison time. but the program is rigorous and requires a commitment to drug rehabilitation and frequent testing. >> and the anger issues. >> and the jail offers its own road to sobriety for the inmates who volunteer to abide by a strict set of rules. >> this is our drc program. drug rehabilitation center. an in-house drug treatment center, a 90-day program for people in the bergen county jail.
have, 180 days. but sofield is eligible for early release upon successfully completing the program. >> what have you learned in here about addiction? >> the main thing i've learned is that i can't do it by myself. my thinking has changed since i've been in here. i totally don't think the same way i did when i first came in here. >> aaron has a better chance than most of the guys we have in here. we has a very supportive large family. he's bright, he's got college, he has a driver's license, a place to live, a car. that's more than many of the people who leave here have. getting better is making a decision. it doesn't just happen. it's saying, you know, i'm not going to pick up a drink or a drug, i'm going to get the help i need. >> yes, sir. >> all right, good luck. and we'll see you. we'll see you during the week, okay? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> today i might know i don't want to use. tomorrow's tomorrow.
token. >> this coin is really a token of your ability to cope. it has no intrinsic value itself, but coping and completing this program in 90 days is a very difficult task. so the ability to get through it without getting written up and kicked out is important. i wish you all the best on your journey, and i hope that you put the same effort into discovery house that you did here. okay? >> thank you. thanks. >> you feel good to see somebody come in on day one and see the change in them. if we get too good at this, i'll be put out of a job, but that's okay. i'll find something else to do. >> prior to his release, he must complete one more task -- provide an orientation to the inmate who will take his spot in the drc, aaron sofield. >> grab two sets of blues and we'll change you up. leave the other two in there. you have your key, right? >> yes, sir. >> i'm addicted to heroin. use it every day, morning, noon
>> officer lopez is one of the supervisors of the drc. >> let's not get lax. >> the gentlemen here wake up at 6:00 in the morning. >> should there be no radios, right, in group? >> and a lot of people who are not used to the structure think that it's military. we don't run it like that, but i say things one time, and i expect it to be done. for them that's military, for anybody else, that's normal behavior. and we have a lot of people come in here thinking this program is one way and after 90 days they're totally different people. >> william says he can testify to that. >> it's a good feeling to have my spirit come back to life because i was dead coming in here. >> serving four months for theft and robbery, he's about to complete the 90-day program. in a few days he'll be released from jail and continue his recovery in a residential drug treatment program. today drug abuse counselor sam watson will honor his achievement with a special
would have never thought that my life would have come to this. you know, i lived a pretty good life growing up. family loved me and people cared about me. had a lot of friends. i had a girlfriend for the past four years. we broke up about eight months ago because of my using. i was engaged to her. and just, i chose the drugs. i chose the drugs over her. >> aaron sofield continues to do time in the bergen county jail's drug rehabilitation center while awaiting sentencing on charges for theft and forgery. >> chow up, last call. >> it's a tightly run program with a strict daily regimen that inmates must adhere to for 90 days or they're dropped. >> we have 50% rules in our
thankful for him. he put that structure back in my life. >> being in jail has got me clean now for 2 1/2 months, and i don't think i've ever been that clean in over four years. my body is kicking back to, you know, a normal cycle, which is a good thing because for a while i thought i wasn't going to be able to have children. >> alyssa schlossberg has also had a heroin addiction. she's currently charged with distribution of cocaine and hopes to take part in the state's court drug program. schlossberg would need to plead guilty, but then instead of jail or prison time, she'd be sent to an inpatient facility and follow protocol for drug testing for as many years as the court deem necessary. >> i went into the kitchen and tomorrow them that you didn't receive -- >> a tray today. >> i didn't know that. >> you knew what you were doing.
facility. it's kind of funny. but if they don't have their keys on them or their locks on their lockers or if they leave the books out or chairs down, we want them focused, we want them thinking. we don't want them too comfortable. we want them always working on themselves. >> sofield, however, faces an additional challenge. >> i'm 6'3" and my feet hit this thing when i try to sleep. you wake up every time you try to turn. it's freezing. i fall asleep and have drug dreams. that's just natural. if you're not having drug dreams, then you're not using drugs. >> sofield has battled addiction to heroin over the past several years and believes if he doesn't get clean this time, he'll lose the support of his family and everything else he values. >> mr. lopez, the co in charge of the program, i give him a lot of respect. he's put up with a lot of [ bleep ] nonsense in this place. people coming to him complaining about this, complaining about that. but i'm thankful, really
change is on the horizon. >> it is not going to be any different than the recent past has been. unfortunately. that's just -- i'm just being honest. i see me getting out of here, getting high, unfortunately. and if she's around me, whether she wants to or not, she'll probably go back to it too. >> i know he's going to complete this program for me, because he knows that i don't want to be away from him ever again after this. it doesn't matter if he wants to get high, he's not going to. >> coming up -- >> the prosecutor and the judge told me i could leave, and the time served, you know. basically, it's get out. >> aaron sofield asked to stay in jail, while thomas costa and alyssa schlossberg make important decisions about their futures as well. i wanted more from my copd medicine that's why i've got the power of 1 2 3 medicines with trelegy. the only fda-approved 3-in-1 copd treatment.
i've been through two rehabs before. so i know what it's about. >> what do you miss about the streets? >> the thrill, running around, just the rush that we get. i'm really not missing my friends. you know? girls. you know, everybody misses girls. but my friends and that, i really don't care. i make friends no matter what. >> sofield's newest friend in the drug rehab center is michael parapar who is only weeks away from completing the program. >> you also have a lot in common like we both shot heroin, we both smoked pcp. >> he's a young cool kid. he speaks what's on his mind. he doesn't care who you are, he says what's on his mind. >> i've been using since i was 14 and alcohol since i was basically 6. when i shot acid, this the guy