Caitlin Silveria would have been one of the first people in Oregon to have a conviction vacated under a new law granting second chances to people convicted of felonies.
But Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Beth Bagley, who sentenced Silveria in 2017 for drug crimes, said the consequences Silveria had experienced as a result of her conviction were what she deserved.
“I’m not going to vacate your conviction altogether. I do not believe that is appropriate. You’ve done fantastic, but this was the consequence of your conduct, which certainly hurt people,”’ Bagley said. “Some of those people, if they’re not dead, they continue to be addicted.”
Bagley denied a joint request by Silveria and the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office to have her 2017 conviction vacated, though she offered Silveria a modicum of hope. Rather than annulling Silveria’s felony conviction, the judge resentenced her for a different charge: attempted unlawful possession of heroin, a crime that can be expunged from her record in Oregon if she follows the proper steps.
Under Senate Bill 819, passed in the 2021 regular legislative session, people convicted of some felonies may partner with district attorneys to petition for expungement of their records “in the interest of justice.”
Long a supporter of alternative justice programs, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel identified Silveria as a candidate after a recommendation from the prosecutor who tried her case. Deputy District Attorney Marc Miller wrote to Hummel of remaining in contact with Silveria’s family and exhausting all possible options.
“They didn’t write the bill with her in mind, but I have to think they had someone like her in mind,” Hummel said.
After high school, Silveria spent a short, trouble-filled time in Deschutes County that ended in October 2017, when she was pulled over near the Redmond Walmart. She admitted to the officer to having drugs in her purse: 6.5 grams of heroin, as well as a scale and text messages on her phone that further confirmed her intent to sell.
Silveria pleaded guilty to heroin delivery, a Class A felony, and was sentenced to 33 days jail and 36 months probation with the condition she complete a substance abuse evaluation.
But Silveria was as clear a success story as Miller had ever seen, he wrote to Hummel. Silveria completed all her probation conditions and has had no relapses since 2018, according to defense attorney Brittany Hill, who represented Silveria at the hearing.
Silveria has obtained her associate’s degree and is living back with her family in Northern California and is enrolled in an accelerated bachelor’s degree program. Since her enrollment at College of the Sequoias, she co-founded a group aimed at helping students with addictions, Giants in Recovery.
She has a job she likes at a citrus packing plant in California. But her dream of pursuing a master’s degree and doctorate, and eventually providing assistance to people with substance abuse disorders, seem unobtainable with her felony record.
Though she’s done well since her time in Bend, her felony conviction from Deschutes County has proved to be a considerable hardship. Finding her current job was incredibly difficult, having been previously turned down for more than 200 jobs. One employer hired her as a billing specialist only to mistreat her, believing she was “indebted” to them, Hill told the court.
For being a felon, she’s been met with cruelty. After sharing her story for a December article in The Bulletin, someone using an unknown number texted her saying she “deserves to be a felon for life.”
At Tuesday’s hearing, the judge asked Hummel, elected in 2014, why his office asked Silveria to plead to a nonexpungable felony.
“Knowing this was unfair, why did your office make this recommendation?” Bagley asked.
Hummel responded, “We know more now.”
“I trust the court also thought this was appropriate then or it would not have allowed it,” he said.
Bagley said her ruling accounted for the “full picture” of Silveria’s conduct, not a “rosy picture of the last couple years.”
Silveria briefly addressed the court.
“I have worked unbelievably hard to stay sober to make up for the wrongs I have done,” she said. “And regardless of your decision today, I will continue to work unbelievably hard to reach my goals.”