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NILES — A Niles woman was sentenced to jail for drug possession and obstructing police Monday in Berrien County Trial Court.

Kasey Melissa McGraw, 49, of Niles, pleaded guilty to possession of narcotics less than 25 grams and resisting and obstructing police and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and $266 in fines and costs.

She also pleaded guilty to contempt of court and probation violation charges and was sentenced to concurrent jail terms of 30 days in jail on two contempt charges and 100 days in jail on the probation violation charge from an earlier case. She also had her probation revoked from the earlier case All the jail terms run concurrent.

The narcotics and resisting arrest incident occurred June 10 in Niles.

Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky said that putting her on probation again would be setting her up for failure. He noted that she violated probation terms from the earlier conviction again last week. “She ends up back in jail over and over,” he said. “At some point she needs to make a decision to change.”

Defense attorney Carri Briseno said McGraw is ready to change and had been accepted into drug treatment court. She noted that McGraw lost both her brother and sister to drug overdoses in the last year and a half and doesn’t want to see that happen to her.

“She’s aware of her record, she knows she needs to make changes,” Briseno said. “She wants to be responsible and clean.”

For her part, McGraw acknowledged that she’s made mistakes but that she wants to be a better person.

“I’ve been struggling with drugs all my life,” she said. “I’ve been striving to stay off drugs and to be a better person … My record is embarrassing, I  don’t want to die of a drug overdose. You will not regret it if you let me go to drug court.”

Berrien County Trial Judge Jennifer Smith said that while McGraw is saying the right things, her actions with the use of drugs speaks louder than any words. She noted that McGraw failed to take drug tests and also failed a drug test even after going through a drug treatment program this summer.

“At some point, you have to do the work yourself,” the judge said. “You have had probation and been to jail and prison before and you’re still here committing crimes.”