Researchers have found that, even after a long absence, addictive behaviors can return when sources of self-esteem end.
This was the case for 48-year-old James Travis Phillips, who claims he used methamphetamine in his 20s to work longer hours, according to court documents related to a federal drug case. Phillips managed to maintain employment and initially “did not succumb to addiction.” He eventually stopped using meth when he married his second wife.
The couple soon had a son, who was around 10 years old when the pair separated. The child initially lived primarily with his father, but moved to live with his mother in 2017, leaving a gap in Phillips’ life that could not be filled.
After their son went to live with his ex-wife, Phillips began using meth again. The relapse “did not take long to evolve into a full-blown addiction,” according to a sentencing memo filed by assistant federal public defender Mary Coleman. The relapse was made worse by the fact that Phillips had become dependent on pain medicine and sedatives that were legally prescribed by a doctor.
“By the time Travis met his co-defendants, he was ‘in a bad way,’ ” Coleman wrote in her memo seeking leniency at sentencing. “He was depressed, in bad health and his methamphetamine use had steadily increased to where he would stay up for days and then collapse.”
Phillips was paying $700 per month on his house, while feeding a drug addiction and barely surviving on $1,100 per month in Social Security benefits when he met Cristin Livingston. He had not known her for long, but accepted her request to move into his property on the condition that she pay $600 per month in rent.
Livingston, 37, grew up with an alcoholic father who lives in a homeless shelter today. She became pregnant at age 15, after which her mother kicked her out of the house, according to documents filed by defense attorney Meghann Burke.
Livingston began using meth at age 16 and continued to do so daily until her arrest. She eventually added heroin into the mix, overdosing twice in one week prior to being incarcerated.
“She has spent more than two decades addicted to methamphetamine, and for at least the past 10 years, Ms. Livingston has experienced bouts of anxiety and depression,” Burke wrote to the court.
Prosecutors say detectives began investigating this case after receiving information from neighbors and area residents who complained that drugs were being sold out of Phillips’ home at 252 Hounds Run Lane. Between May and August 2018, investigators documented a lot of traffic to and from Phillip’s residence, which he shared with Livingston and her boyfriend Jonathan Neal Deaton.
In November 2019, police used a confidential informant to set up a controlled buy with Livingston. Investigators followed up with another controlled buy the next month, but Livingston didn’t have the full amount requested, so she enlisted the help of Phillips, who possessed a quantity of meth that she had given him.
Court documents say Livingston and Phillips sold a confidential informant a combined quantity that was 91 percent pure and contained 26.71 grams of “actual” meth.
Prosecutors say Livingston later told a confidential informant that she earned money from certain drug deals because she introduced one of her suppliers, identified as Raymond Dale Queen, to a larger supplier in Georgia. Court documents say investigators set up three additional controlled buys with Livingston, two of which also involved Queen and one which involved Deaton.
Livingston and Phillips each previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. On June 17, a federal judge sentenced Livingston to serve 5 years and 10 months in prison, while Phillips received a sentence of 3 years and 4 months.
Both of those sentences are lower than the applicable guideline ranges, according to the court documents.
In Coleman’s request for leniency, she argues that Phillips’ mental and physical condition should be considered in determining the length of prison time. Documents say he suffers from diabetes and has been diagnosed with having multiple mental health issues. He is being treated with antidepressants while incarcerated.
Burke’s request for leniency argues that Livingston has never had “meaningful treatment” despite a lifelong struggle with addiction and mental illness. Burke also argued that the court should acknowledge that Livingston immediately took responsibility for her role in the meth trafficking conspiracy.
“Queen intended to take this case to trial until after Ms. Livingston’s meeting with [prosecutors] on the eve of trial,” Burke wrote in her memo.
Deaton was previously sentenced to serve four years in prison for his role in the conspiracy, as reported in the June 9 edition of the Cherokee Scout. Queen has admitted his role in the scheme as well and awaits sentencing.
Meanwhile, a local resident who lived in the same community as Phillips submitted letters to the court urging a judge to impose a maximum sentence on all of the defendants.
“Imagine watching garbage, including human waste and other drug byproducts and paraphernalia, pile up for over two years,” Heather Heverly wrote to the court.
“My family and I could not go out together as a family for almost four years because we feared that if we left our home unoccupied, [it would have been burglarized] or vandalized. … We have lost our zest for life in this once beautiful neighborhood that we have been in for 16 years.”