Judge spends night in jail keeping decorated veteran he sentenced company

Lou Olivera said he did not want the time alone to trigger Sgt Joseph Serna’s PTSD

Judge Olivera spent the night in jail with a veteran (Cumberland CountyNC, You Tube)

A judge in the US has been praised for his compassion after sentencing a war veteran to one night in jail for violating probation, and joining him for the duration of his stay.

Sgt Joseph Serna had appeared before district court judge Lou Olivera, at the Cumberland County Veterans Treatment Court, in North Carolina, for a number of progress reviews having being sentenced to attend a veteran’s treatment programme after being charged with driving under the influence.

The veteran, who earned three purple hearts during his time in the military and has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and related alcohol abuse since returning to the US, was sentenced to 24-hours in jail after confessing to Judge Olivera that he lied about a previous urine test.

But knowing his history, Judge Olivera said he would not see the former Special Forces soldier spend time in his cell alone, potentially triggering his PTSD, and opted to stay with him and talk.

Sgt Serna, 41, had spent almost 20 years in the armed forces, during which he had undertaken four tours of Afghanistan, survived a suicide bomb attack and a roadside bombing, and had been the sole survivor of a vehicle accident that saw three of his colleagues die after their armoured truck toppled off a road into a canal.

The judge, who is a Gulf War veteran, told the Fayetteville Observer: “When Joe first came to turn himself in, he was trembling. I decided I’d spend the night serving with him.”

The pair sat out the night of 13 April in the same cell, having a conversation described to WRAL by the judge as a personal, ‘father son conversation’.

“They have worn the uniform and we know they can be contributing members of society,” Judge Olivera said of seeing veterans in court. “We just want to get them back there.”