This judge took things to a different level when he had to put an American hero behind bars, after being caught for DUI. The judge took a different route after noticing something different about this man he was special forces and had been deployed multiple times. The judge then did something even more unexpected and went into the cell with him.

VIA| The veteran’s name is Joe Serna, and he has struggled with PTSD since arriving back home.

Judge Lou Olivera, a veteran himself, knew the pain and emotions Serna was dealing with.

That’s why he drove the Green Beret to jail and asked if he could spend the night with him.

From Liftable:

A North Carolina judge sentenced a Green Beret veteran to spend a night in jail. But when he remembered his own story and all he had gone through, he couldn’t just let him spend the night alone.

Judge Lou Olivera, a Gulf War veteran, is a district court judge over the Veterans Treatment Court in Cumberland County, North Carolina. He had to sentence Green Beret Joe Serna to one night in jail for a probation violation.

Serna, a recipient of three Purple Hearts, is retired from the military and is having a hard time adjusting back to life after experiencing the battle of war in Afghanistan. Through his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, he turned to alcohol to help him deal with the issues he was having mentally.