DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The former chief of staff to a county commissioner is speaking out for the first time since his arrest. He told Channel 2 Action News getting caught smoking crack in 2016 helped turn his life around.
“It took a bunch of people to help save my life,” Jeff Breedlove said.
Breedlove is finally comfortable talking about the cocaine addiction that he’s been dealing with for 30 years.
“I would steal, lie, cheat, pawn the car, pawn other stuff, do whatever. I stole $77 in quarters from my son. It was dangerous,” he said.
Somehow, he was able to hide his addiction from all of his employers, including DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy Jester.
He was her chief of staff from 2014 to 2016, and he was working for her the day police arrested him.
“And I just decided to leave and go on a binge, there’s no logic – it’s insane,” Breedlove said.
He owed his drug dealer some money, so Breedlove called a friend for help.
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That friend called police and officers caught Breedlove smoking crack cocaine in a Decatur motel room.
He tried to lie and told officers he was being held hostage in the room, but then admitted to them and himself that he had a problem.
After going to jail, getting fired and finishing three months in rehab, he took a job advocating for substance abusers as a director for the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse.
Even at his worst, he said he didn't look like someone addicted to drugs, and many other people like him need help.
“That’s important that our leaders hear that because it’s killing your constituents. It’s killing your voters. It’s killing your friends and your neighbors,” he said.
According to state officials, nearly 1 million Georgians are in recovery, and that’s only the people who have admitted they have a problem and got help.
Breedlove is now at the Capitol and other places fighting for what those in recovery need.
Cox Media Group
