Shawano County graduated two more people Nov. 19 through its drug court program facilitated through the circuit court as Cindy Johnson and William Hilley III celebrated their sobriety with family, friends and county officials.
Hilley, a Shawano resident, was arrested in 2022 and charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. The case was resolved in 2024, and Hilley’s sentence included going through the drug treatment program. He completed the program in just over one year and five months, and his sobriety at the graduation was just shy of one year and six months.
Johnson, another Shawano resident, was also arrested in 2022 and charged with meth possession and maintaining a drug trafficking place. Her case was resolved in 2024, and she has spent 18 months going through the drug treatment program. In that time, she has received her high school equivalency diploma and got her driver’s license back.
Johnson said she had been on probation since 2021, and that she stayed in a toxic relationship before her latest legal woes. She described that time as she “wasn’t living, just existing.”
Johnson spent 5 1/2 months in a treatment facility, but two weeks after she returned home to Shawano, she was in trouble again, she said during her graduation speech.
“I wound up going to prison, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise,” Johnson said. “I found my way back to God, got some clarity and got honest with myself. For the first time, I didn’t just want recovery — I realized I needed it.”
The road wasn’t an easy one for Johnson. She encountered Officer Ryan Atkinson with the Shawano Police Department, the officer who had previously arrested her, shortly after being released, and her initial reaction was “I didn’t do it. I just got out.”
However, Atkinson struck up a conversation with Johnson, she said, and told him about what was at the time the new recovery center and suggested she go there for help.
“He made me promise I’d at least check it out,” Johnson said. “I like to keep my promises, so I did.”
Getting herself to go to meetings required some work initially, she said.
“My biggest barrier to recovery was simply walking through the doors of a meeting,” Johnson said. “My anxiety was so overwhelming that it took me months to even try to get through those doors. When it became mandatory to attend two meetings a week, I still struggled.”
Johnson knows others have struggled through drug addiction, including her sister, who she said has been in her recovery since 1986.
“She was my protector,” Johnson said. “She’s my rock, and she’s my inspiration. I still want to be like her.”
Today, Johnson is employed with Core Treatment, and she is part of the 2026 Shawano County Leadership class.
“Without treatment court, I wouldn’t have the coping skills, routines, structures, confidence and self-worth that I have today,” she said.
As for Hilley, he described his life as being full of “loneliness and anxiety” when he turned to drugs.
“I was in complete denial that I had problem and had no plans of getting sober,” he said.
Going through the drug treatment court allowed Hilley to make friends again and find support in keeping away from the drugs that made him hit rock bottom. He said his anxiety levels have become much more manageable during his time in the program.
“I am no longer alone in this. Other people besides myself have gone through the same things I have, and it’s possible to turn your life around,” Hilley said.
Hilley worked a full-time job during his recovery, working 2,729 hours over the 17-month period, which some in his circle were concerned might have been a little much for someone seeking to break free from addiction. However, he always made time for his family.
“In the beginning, it seemed so overwhelming and almost impossible,” Hilley said.
Hilley said he plans to continue to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings and is working to save up money in the event that things break down in his home. He is still on probation and hopes to complete it without incident.
Hilley said he still has some growing to do, and his recovery is not complete.
“I still have anxiety that I deal with on a daily basis, but I’m working every day to stay calm and focus on what I need to do to continue to live my life,” he said.
The county’s drug treatment program started with its first participant in December 2018. Johnson and Hilley are the 15th and 16th graduates, respectively, to make it through the program. There have been 42 participants in the program since its inception, and 177 referrals for treatment candidates have been made.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
