To the editor:
I have a question for the Brown County court and the Brown County newspaper.
Why isn’t everyone who gets arrested for drug charges have their pictures and big articles written about them and put on the front page of the newspaper instead of just certain people?
Yes, I am talking about my son, Chad Guffey. You would think he was the only bad person in the county. FYI, no one has all the facts.
I’m not saying I have a perfect son or perfect family. No one does, even though some people think they do no wrong or are above the law.
Ray and I raised our kids the best we knew how. We provided a place to live, food on the table, and taught them they had to work for what they wanted, because as my dad used to say, there’s nothing free in this world or will be handed to you; you have to work for it.
We lost a son, Eddie, who was well known in the county, in 1994. Chad has been in two almost-fatal accidents, one when he was 2 years old and another when he was 19. Although we spent a month in St Louis hospital and many months in Columbus hospital, through lots of prayers, therapy, help from our family, and many friends and lots of love, we helped Chad to walk, talk and feed himself, etc. He still has short-term memory loss and no use of his right hand and walks with a limp, but we are very blessed to have him still here with us. God could have taken him then, but we feel like God had a plan for him. Chad has done a complete turn-around in the last year.
That horrible picture doesn’t look like him today. Ray and I were devastated when we found all this out. The thing we don’t understand is why our name, our business name, and our past volunteer work for the sheriff’s department (which both of us served 20-plus years) was dragged through the mud. You don’t see pictures or big write-ups about the other people who get arrested for drugs. If you read the fine print you will see they were sentenced to so many days and all were excused except maybe two days that were spent in jail.
I guess it all boils down to who you are. Is Chad being used as an example? If he is, I hope it helps someone else make a better life choice.
Instead of focusing on the bad that has been done, why not look at all Chad has contributed to the community? For example, all the hours spent coaching little kids basketball, umpiring lots of softball games, encouraging them to believe in themselves and building the positive in them.
He would offer a place to stay, to anyone, if they were homeless for a night, a week, or a month, and a good and kind reputation with a lot of people in the county.
The judge and prosecutor excused themselves from the case and I have great respect for them doing that, because we are well known to the county government and there would be rumors around the county that there was favoritism in the outcome. I am not upset with the police officers or the sheriff’s department; they are doing their job. I just think more could be done in this county to help control the drug problem. Sad thing is, they know who the big dealers are; nothing is being done about it.
Although I will probably never get the answers to my questions, I want the people to know Chad is serving his punishment, and as a parent, I will make sure he fulfills it. Chad, Ray, myself and my family will still help those in need the best we can. We have done that for a long time.
Again, I want to say no one has a perfect child. Chad is ashamed, embarrassed, and regrets putting his family and friends through all of this.
Ray and I feel Chad is fulfilling God’s plan for him now.
We are very proud of him, and thanks to everyone who has helped him and us to get through all of this.
Debbie Guffey, Brown County
Editor’s note: The Democrat writes about all drug-dealing charges. When those are high-level felonies or cases involving large amounts of drugs or money, those stories go on the front page. Chad Guffey’s case involved a Level 2 felony charge, which is why it ran on the front page when he was charged. The follow-up story, explaining his sentence, ran on an inside page, not the front, and it included information from Guffey and his lawyer about his challenges and what he has been doing to achieve sobriety. Information about the Guffey family’s connections to county government and the sheriff’s department was included in the first story to explain why a special prosecutor and special judge were being appointed to handle the case. Unfortunately, the internet makes the presentation of all stories appear the same whether they ran on page 3 or on page 1.
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