| Former state Sen. Randy Schoonover, now 55, has returned to the Capitol, but not as a politician.
The beleaguered Schoonover, after years of battling an addiction to prescription painkillers, says he's now clean and wants to lobby for prison sentencing reform.
The former Clay County Democrat is now enrolled at Mountain State University pursuing a degree in social work.
Schoonover says he became addicted after losing his arm in an all-terrain vehicle accident in 2004.
He faced drug charges on two occasions, and was sentenced to a Beckley rehabilitation facility.
Schoonover says he wants to use his experience to convince lawmakers that rehabilitation is more effective than jail time.
The former senator spent 14 months in federal prison. In 1999, he pled guilty to accepting bribes from a Summersville towing company.
Schoonover was riding an ATV in the Clay County woods in 2004, when the 800-pound machine flipped, pinning him to the ground. Rescuers found him a day later, still trapped under the ATV.
Schoonover said he spent much of that time praying to die.
His left arm had to be amputated, and he was addicted to drugs that would dominate his life for several years.
He was addicted to Morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and couldn't go a day without them.
Schoonover's wife left him and he traded his car for drugs.
Police arrested him for delivering $100 worth of pain pills to a police informant and sentenced him to a year of home confinement.
Finally, he was sentenced to six months rehabilitation at FMRS Health Systems in Beckley.
Schoonover tells state media, he is excited about his new start in life.
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