In the fall of 2017, Daniel Alton was sitting in a jail cell for the third time in less than two months, facing multiple felonies. He thought his life was over.
Alton, then 25, had been arrested in September, October and November on drug charges, a warrant, and for not paying child support.
He had begun using heroin in 2016.
“I had never really done hard drugs like that at all. You can make all of the excuses in the world, but I was really drunk, and I did it,” he said.
He soon realized he was spending too much money on drugs and tried to quit.
“My daughter had just been born. I was working 50 hours a week. I tried to quit and got super sick. I was too sick to work,” he said.
“In my mind, I convinced myself that I had to keep using in order to keep working. I did that for six months, probably, and then I quit. I got clean. I was good for five months. Then I relapsed again.”
In that month, he began using syringes to inject heroin. He was running back and forth to Indianapolis, picking up heroin for himself and anyone else who asked.
“I wasn’t your typical drug dealer. I just knew somewhere you could get it for really cheap, and a lot of people around me knew that. They would say, ‘Hey, if you’re going up there to get some for yourself, get some for me, too.’ Or, ‘Here’s some money; can I go with you?’” he said.
“I would go up there, get it, get them theirs and what they paid for, and then go our separate ways.”
The evening of Sept. 1, Alton received a message from Caleb Joy.
The two were familiar with each other through a mutual friend, but that night was the first time they had met. They went to Indianapolis together to get drugs.
Joy died that night of a heroin overdose. His father and the family’s pastor found him in his bedroom.
A mutual friend began texting and calling Alton repeatedly the next morning.
“He was like, ‘Please tell me you didn’t help Caleb get anything. Please tell me what I’m hearing is not true.’
“I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He’s like, ‘Caleb overdosed.’
“I will always feel guilty about that. Even though he did those drugs himself, I’m still the one who supplied them,” Alton said. “That still haunts me to this day.”
Wake-up call
On Oct. 18, 2017, Alton was was charged with aiding, inducing or causing dealing in a narcotic drug, a Level 5 felony.
“This was not the type of ‘dealing’ that one would be thinking about,” said Prosecutor Ted Adams.
“Our theory was that he aided in the delivery of the heroin. It was a bit of a stretch, but we believed we had to do something, and I felt I might be able to persuade a jury.”
This is how heroin commonly comes into Brown County, Adams said. “What we have is a lot of addicts that pool their money and resources together in order to buy a gram and split it up. If addicts buy in larger quantities, they’re able to purchase more,” he said.
Joy’s death was a wake-up call for Alton.
“When you’re living that kind of life and you’re caught up in it, that’s not really something you’re thinking about at the time. You know it’s a possibility, but even helping a friend acquire drugs can have some very huge consequences,” he said.
“I had to take a step back and take a look at my life and decide what I wanted for myself. I didn’t want to keep living like that.
“That’s not who I was, anyways. I lost myself somewhere along the way, and had to get back to it.”
Alton’s first arrest that year had been on Sept. 15. He detoxed in jail and was there for two weeks before bonding out.
On Sept. 18, he was charged with three other drug-related felonies and a misdemeanor, including possession of a narcotic drug, unlawful possession of a syringe, maintaining a common nuisance and possession of paraphernalia.
His mother and brother were also charged with felonies after police served a warrant on their home Sept. 15. They are also sober now and have been sentenced in their criminal cases, he said.
Alton has been clean from heroin now for a year and five months.
On Feb. 4, he pleaded guilty to possession of a narcotic drug in two separate cases. The remaining counts in both cases were dismissed, including Level 5 dealing in a narcotic drug — the charge related to Joy’s death.
Adams said there were many reasons why the Level 5 felony was dropped.
“We were attempting to cobble together a dealing charge prior to the Indiana legislature changing the Indiana Code to reflect a dealing causing death, which is what we felt we had in this situation,” he said in an email Feb. 12.
In July 2018, a new law was put into effect that would result in a person being charged with a Level 1 felony if they sold drugs to someone and that person later overdosed and died. A Level 1 felony has a sentencing range between 20 and 40 years in prison, with an advisory sentence of 30 years.
“It would have been very tough to prove, as the case was circumstantial at best,” Adams said about Alton’s role in Joy’s death. “Our main witness had, unfortunately, passed away, and reliance on making the case would come through other addicts.”
“Most importantly,” Adams believed that Alton has taken “positive steps” toward rehabilitation. He has also become engaged in his young daughter’s life, he has a job, he’s participating in community activities and pays child support.
While he was working out a plea agreement with Alton, Adams reached out to Caleb Joy’s parents.
“I, in the moment, was like, ‘We don’t want to see a life gone. We don’t want to see everything thrown out because of a mistake,’” said Cory Joy, his father. “It wasn’t just a mistake. There was a lifestyle that needed to be changed and adjusted.”
“Just to walk in freedom from substance use disorder, to be able to be free from that — he deserves that opportunity,” Michelle said about Alton.
“We don’t ever want his life ruined.”
Alton was sentenced to serve almost three years in jail with 50 days actually served and the remainder suspended in both cases. He was put on probation for nearly three years.
If he violates his probation in either case, he will serve the rest of his sentences in jail.
In addition to the court being able to monitor him, “we crafted a plea agreement that essentially put the ball in Mr. Alton’s court for the next three years,” Adams said.
‘Give him a chance’
As a part of his plea deal, Alton will seek counseling through Centerstone. Before he was sentenced, Alton sought treatment at Centerstone and was doing weekly, one-hour counseling sessions before he became unable to pay for it.
Alton had trouble finding a job after being arrested three times.
Cornerstone Inn owner Pam Gould and property manager Chad Kritzer gave him a chance and a job. He walked to work every day to pay his child support.
“Pam and Chad were very instrumental to me getting back on my feet and really turning my life around,” Alton said.
Alton met Taylor Hardesty when he went to cash his checks at the bank where she worked. They are now engaged after almost a year together.
Alton now has joint custody of his daughter, Kimberly, who turns 3 this month.
“I lived alone, then he came on board. He filled my house with tons of toys and a child,” Hardesty said.
She helped Alton find his current job as a mechanic, where he has been working for seven months now.
“I took a chance on Daniel,” Hardesty said.
“I grew up in a military household and my parents are really strict. Once I got to know him, I realized this is the boy who grew up on a farm, worked on tractors and loved his dad.
“You’re so much more than just that two years of your life, but a lot of people don’t see that, because they don’t get to know you.”
Hardesty asked her parents to give Alton a chance, too.
“They met him. Now, they love him. They don’t have a problem with him whatsoever,” she said.
”I wish more people would take a chance, because he’s really a great guy.”
Hardesty has watched Alton work to put his life back together and the struggles that sometimes entails in a small community.
“When people say they know who he is before he even introduces himself, he has a stigma associated with him,” she said.
Alton wishes people understood addiction better.
“That stigma makes it really hard for addicts to actually want to change. They have to come out in the open about it,” he said.
“It took a long time to find a job. The only reason I did was because people were willing to take a chance on me,” he said.
“Five felonies — I really thought that I’d never have real employment, a real job ever again, a career — like, any of that. Felons can’t do anything.
“I honestly I just kind of accepted that my life was over, so to go from that kind of mindset, to having my own place, a fiancée and having my daughter back, and a career, things honestly couldn’t be better.”
On the one-year anniversary of Caleb’s death last year, the community was invited to Hope Fest at the home where he passed away.
The Joys sent word to Alton that he would be welcome. Alton and Hardesty both attended.
“When Michelle saw me and realized who I was, she gave me a big hug as soon as she realized. That was amazing, because for the longest time, you always have these thoughts in your head about what these people must think of you. It was just very emotional,” Alton said.
Cory sent Alton a message later: “(I said) ‘I wasn’t near as emotional with you as you probably were expecting me to be, because you just look like a normal person. You had your daughter in your arms. You had a friend with you. I was just like you look like another person. In my mind, you were a friend of Caleb’s just extending a hand to us. It didn’t even dawn on me,’” Cory said.
“He looked so good. He was having good thoughts. I was happy for him.”
Walk in freedom
The Joys said their son made a choice that night to use heroin, and they don’t blame anyone for his death.
“If Daniel would have said no, (Caleb) quite possibly would have found another source. We can’t hold it against him. We can be upset that was he in the middle of that, that he was in that lifestyle, but what we can do is hope and live in that he doesn’t have to have the same outcome. We wouldn’t want that for anybody,” Cory said.
“We’re not going to blame anyone. As parents, you want to blame yourself and say, ‘What could I have done differently?’ But you can’t live in that. You can’t live in the ‘what ifs.’ If you blame, you’re not really healing or working through it,” Michelle said.
She didn’t believe jail was the answer for Alton.
“We’re glad he has a consequence. … We do want to see him held accountable and that he’s going to continue growing, healing and being free,” she said.
“It seems like he’s been doing that. He deserves a chance. That’s where we stand.”
The way to gain trust, Cory said, is, “Time, plus believable behavior.”
“I am Caleb’s dad. It would be natural for most to go, ‘Well, you’re supposed to hate him. You’re supposed to be mad at him.’ I would not want to go to my end day and say, ‘Well, I held bitterness towards him that caused him to relapse, that caused him to go through depression and walk in shame,’” he said.
If Caleb were still alive, “I would want people to give him a fair shot,” Michelle said.
“That’s how I view Daniel: I look at him as Caleb. How would I want Daniel’s family to feel towards Caleb? I would want there to be forgiveness and not bitterness, hatefulness. … I would want him treated as a human that was struggling.
“We’re all broken. We just handle it in different ways. It doesn’t make it right, but I would want Caleb treated the same way.”
Cory said it’s not about giving a person “the benefit of the doubt,” but being open to and loving people in recovery.
“We want him to be the father he’s supposed to be and the son and the husband and the friend. That will help our healing,” Michelle said. “It’s not contingent on that, but it would be really good to see him just flourish. I know Caleb would want that,” she said.
“It’s a life saved,” Cory added.
