Dustin Hazlewood’s second chance ended Wednesday morning.
After several years of pursuing his criminal case, the former captain of the Wythe County Rescue Team was found guilty of stealing prescription painkillers – morphine and fentanyl – from the team nearly 20 years ago. seven years.
Now 32, Hazlewood pleaded guilty to two drug-related crimes in 2017, but a judge found him not guilty and took his case under advisement for four years, periodically having him review his progress. He was also supposed to complete 300 hours of community service.
Hazlewood successfully completed a similar program in Montgomery County after being charged in 2010 with possession of morphine. This accusation was ultimately dismissed.
Since his plea in Wythe County, however, Hazlewood, who at one point ran his own drug addiction department, has received new criminal convictions and undergone another round of rehab, court records show.
In December 2021, he was jailed in Lynchburg on 2019 charges of kidnapping, assault and assault of a family member, according to online records.
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On Wednesday, his lawyer filed evidence that he had completed drug treatment at a California center in early 2021 and had been accepted into another “extensive personal development program” which lasts from nine months to three years. .
In a July 2021 Galax Gazette column written from prison, Hazlewood said he has continued to struggle with addiction since his Wythe plea.
“I once thought jail wasn’t 100% the answer,” he wrote, “and I don’t believe it’s the complete answer, but it may be part of it.”
Before the column was published, Hazlewood wrote another letter from prison asking for a connection to Judge Josiah Showalter Jr.
“You saw something in me in 2017, giving me the opportunity of a lifetime,” he wrote. “I have failed you, Mr. Mabe, Mr. Jones and the court as a whole regarding this opportunity.”
In a statement after Wednesday’s hearing, Jones, Commonwealth barrister Mike Jones, said Hazlewood was a “crook who told the court everything he needed to hear.”
“Over the past four years, he has been convicted of multiple violent crimes, evaded supervision, and held a general disdain for this court,” he wrote. “His actions of withdrawing painkillers from those who really needed them were selfish and despicable. Justice was finally served today.
Showalter sentenced Hazlewood to serve one year and six months in prison with credit for time spent awaiting trial.
He will not be on probation in County Wythe after his release.
Hazlewood is being held at New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin.
Jeffrey Simmons can be reached at 228-6611, ext. 572, or jsimmons@wythenews.com.
