A judge has placed suspended Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly on "shock probation" just months into his six-year jail stay.
"Shock probation" provides first-time inmates early release after "experiencing the shock or trauma of being in jail," per KTRK-TV, which reported the Texas judge's decision Tuesday.
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Jolly was sentenced to six years in a Houston prison in November for violating the terms of his probation for a drug conviction. He now faces 200 hours of community service as part of the 10-year probation.
It's another chapter in the story of Jolly's very public addiction to codeine in the form of "purple drank." Jolly's troubles with the substance have led to multiple arrests during and after his stint with the Packers.
His family fought for Jolly, 29, to be placed in rehabilitation instead of jail before his November sentencing. Jolly recently told the station he's not a criminal, but an addict: "Once you get addicted to it, you're in the mind-set where you don't think you going to get caught, or you don't feel like you're going to get in trouble," Jolly said. "And that's just the drug talking to you."
Jolly started 32 straight games for the Packers during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, but hasn't played since the league suspended him indefinitely in July 2010. It seems unlikely Jolly will return to the NFL, but we wish him well in his recovery.
