Pubdate: Sat, 29 Jul 2006 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Copyright: 2006 The Palm Beach Post Contact: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333 Author: Daphne Duret, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer VET'S DRUG CASE RESONATES WITH JUDGE STUART - The Vietnam War gave Gerald Bighum three gunshot wounds, two Bronze Stars and a case of post-traumatic stress disorder for which he still receives benefits. The most deadly wounds he has suffered, however, have been from a drug addiction that has brought him in and out of jail for nearly two decades. On Tuesday, Bighum, 61, of Hobe Sound, was back before a judge again, asking for jail instead of prison for a February arrest possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Bighum has previous arrests for cocaine possession, sale or delivery of a controlled substance, shooting into an occupied vehicle or dwelling, and battery. The man hearing his case Tuesday, Circuit Judge Robert Belanger, said knowing about Bighum's past tugged on his heartstrings. Belanger, a former U.S. Marines captain, told Bighum he was a veteran, too. "You know, you don't make it easy on the court," Belanger said. But Belanger said the arrest affidavit, which chronicles the search of the man's house and the drugs that police found there, cast a shadow over the service Bighum gave to his country. Assistant State Attorney Adam Guzi also asked Bighum if he had ever violated probation. "I did violate," Bighum answered. In the end, Belanger sentenced him to 12 months in the county jail instead of sending him to prison. Belanger said he worries that the crack cocaine Bighum abuses and his stints of incarceration when he gets caught will eclipse his two Bronze Stars and become his legacy. "I hope you live to be 100," Belanger said. "But you're getting to the age where a two-or three-year Department of Corrections sentence could be a life sentence." - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath