Dad gets life sentence for giving meth to kids

MOSCOW, Idaho – A father accused of forcing his 11-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son to smoke methamphetamine so they wouldn’t expose his drug habit has been sentenced to life in prison.

Bradley Scott Jacobs, 43, of Moscow, won’t be eligible for parole for six years, a penalty imposed by 2nd District Court Judge John R. Stegner so his daughter will be an adult when he leaves prison.

“You were entrusted with your children and you violated that trust,” Stegner told Jacobs in court Monday.

“I don’t think your daughter should have to worry about your release until after her 18th birthday. I find the nature of this offense to be heinous.”

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said even with the fixed minimum prison term of six years, it will likely be longer before Jacobs is released from prison.

“As a practical matter, I don’t expect he would be considered for parole until he’s done at least 10 years,” Thompson said Tuesday.

Jacobs, who pleaded guilty March 1 to one felony charge of delivery of a controlled substance, was arrested in October after his daughter, now 12, tested positive for meth.

She told a social worker and a Latah County sheriff’s detective that Jacobs forced her and her brother to smoke the drug so they wouldn’t expose his drug use.

Jacobs’ son, 13 at the time, tested positive for meth and marijuana.

In a court affidavit, a sheriff’s official said the daughter reported that her brother had been smoking marijuana with their father for two years.

A member of a Christian group that helps recovering addicts testified at the hearing, saying Jacobs had made strides in addressing his crimes since his arrest.

Darrell Anglen, of Celebrate Recovery, said Jacobs’ recent interest in Christianity wasn’t just some “jailhouse conversion.”

“I believe I watched him do some things in the last five months that are exceptional,” Anglen said.

Still, Deputy Prosecutor Jim Craig said Jacobs was still blaming others for his problems.

For instance, Jacobs told the an investigator that he didn’t force his kids to smoke meth, but that he simply left out his meth pipe and they asked him if they could try it, said Craig.

Craig had recommended a life sentence with 15 years fixed so Jacobs’ 4-year-old son would also be 18 before his father was eligible for parole.

Jacobs’ public defender, Tim Gresback, had wanted his client sentenced to a 180-day drug rehabilitation program. Graduates are placed on probation.

“He’s done some terrible things,” Gresback said, “but he’s not one of the evil people in our society.”