The former Syracuse University student living in Alpha Chi Rho, who was arrested on several felony and misdemeanor drug charges, was released Tuesday on a $25,000 bail.

Syracuse police arrested Patrick Jackson, 23, Thursday night and seized 4.23 ounces of cocaine, 15.6 grams of marijuana and $5,560 in cash in his room in AXP.

He pled not guilty to his charges, which included: criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second and third degrees, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia in the second degree and unlawful possession of marijuana.

At his arraignment on Friday, a city court judge did not grant bail because of the severity of his charges.

Following a bail hearing, the decision was later changed to a $25,000 bail— which Jackson posted on Tuesday, said Victoria Jackson, Patrick Jackson’s mother.

“I’m feeling a lot better, it’s such a huge relief,” she said about her son’s release.

Victoria Jackson had been present during Patrick Jackson’s arraignment and pleaded with the judge to grant her son bail. She said she had been in the “worst state of her life” while Patrick Jackson was in prison.

She said she had been contacted by mothers of Patrick Jackson’s friends, who told her they were willing to testify on Patrick Jackson’s behalf in court. Victoria Jackson said she appreciated the outpouring of support, which she did not expect.

She also said Patrick Jackson will not be returning to the fraternity house, which she said both his lawyer advised and he insisted on.

“He’s never going to come back to that house, he doesn’t want to go back,” she said. “There’s no possibility of it.”

When Victoria Jackson saw her son, he said he only wanted to return to their home in Connecticut.

Now that Jackson is released on bail, he will attend therapy and be evaluated on whether he has a drug problem, his mother said.

“This was a wake-up call, and we’re going to do whatever is possible to fix it,” she said. “I need to figure out for myself what happened and why.”

Patrick Jackson’s preliminary hearing will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Published on October 2, 2013 at 1:35 am

Contact Alfred: alng@syr.edu

@alfredwkng