It took $120 a day to pay for the heroin that Melissa Williams needed to satisfy her addiction.
The money came from solo shoplifting sprees at department stores across the metro area, stealing high-end purses and men and women's Nike gear that she resold at half price.
After she was caught with thousands of dollars of Michael Kors purses at the Southdale Macy's in 2015, Williams faced three years in prison.
That's when Hennepin County Drug Court intervened.
"I didn't want to be like this anymore," she said, speaking at a drug court graduation ceremony in Minneapolis on Friday afternoon.
Williams, 42, was one of two keynote speakers and got a standing ovation after she tearfully recounted her road to recovery. She and 23 others who had participated in Drug Court graduated at the ceremony.
"We often say there are two paths out of Drug Court — graduation or prison," Marta Chou, the presiding judge of the Hennepin County Drug Court, said before the ceremony at the Hennepin County Government Center.
"This is a difficult and long program, but as these graduates will tell you, it is worth it!" Chou said at the ceremony. "You've worked, you've found jobs, you've become productive. You are an amazing group of people."