District Court Judge Lou Olivera sentenced a retired Green Beret to lock-up for a probation violation.But when the cell door closed behind that war veteran, the judge was locked up with him."I had never been to jail before," Olivera said.Olivera told ABC11 he had to hold former Green Beret Sgt Joe Serna accountable for lying to the court. Then the judge got locked up in the cell with the veteran, so they could talk, and in the end the lockup helped both men.Olivera is a familiar face in the Cumberland County courthouse, where he holds District Court, and a veteran's treatment court, and now he knows the flip side: what it feels like to spend the night in jail."When they close that door, it's really, you are shut off," the judge said. "I had a more palpable understanding of the issues Joe was going through."Serna is a decorated war veteran. After three combat tours in Afghanistan, he came home in a downward spiral, which included PTSD and a DWI charge. He entered the veteran's treatment court program here."I had to take care of the physical part of me 'cause I had surgeries from combat injuries, spiritually and then I (went to) jail to do right by society," Serna said.But last week, Serna told Olivera that he lied in court. The judge sentenced him to lock-up, then shocked Serna by his compassion."(Olivera) comes in, they close the door and lock it," Serna said, "and this was a one-man cell so we sat on the bunk and I said 'you are here for the entire time with me?' he said, 'yeah that's what I am doing.' "Olivera, himself a Gulf War veteran, said that with Serna's PTSD, he worried about the effects of a night in isolation lock-up. Olivera said he would have done it for any of the other dozen vets in his treatment court."We are not expecting them to trust us overnight, but it's a relationship that is built," Olivera said. "That's why when there is a violation, the team comes around and says 'hey you have to square yourself away. ' "It's a court of honesty and accountability - and life-changing results."We are more like a family, the court and the team that makes a huge difference in recovery," Olivera said.As part of the accountability, veterans have to appear before Olivera every two weeks. The success of this program is about to be celebrated for the first time - it will hold its first graduation ceremony next week. ||||| You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters 
 
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 — A judge’s act of compassion has a former Fort Bragg soldier promising to get his life back on track. 
 
 A Cumberland County judge sentenced veteran Joseph Serna to spend one night in jail for a probation violation, but the former soldier was shocked when the judge served the time with him. 
 
 Serna is a former Special Forces soldier who has been deployed four times. Since his retirement, he has used alcohol to fight battlefield demons. 
 
 “I’ve lost a lot of friends and I take my bumps as well and I didn’t want to talk about it,” said Serna. 
 
 Serna’s fight to get sober landed him in Cumberland County’s Veterans Treatment Court, which is run by District Court Judge Lou Olivera. 
 
 “It’s a treatment court, but it’s a treatment court that’s targeted to those veterans who keep on appearing in the court system for particular reasons,” Olivera said. 
 
 Serna has appeared before Olivera 25 times while going through the treatment program. Serna said last week, he didn’t tell the truth about his urinalysis test, and Olivera ordered him to spend 24-hours behind bars. 
 
 Olivera drove Serna to the jail in Robeson County. The cell door closed and Serna sat on the cot. He said the door rattled, then opened, and he was shocked at what happened next. 
 
 “The judge comes in … and so we’re sitting there and they lock the door and I realized, oh, we’re going to stay the night. He’s going to stay the night here with me,” Serna said. 
 
 The two men spent most of the night talking about their military service. 
 
 “It was more of a father-son conversation as opposed to a judge talking to someone and sentencing them. It was personal,” Serna said. 
 
 Olivera, who served in the Gulf War, said he hopes the experience helps Serna to get his life back on track. 
 
 “They have worn the uniform and we know they can be contributing members of society. We just want to get them back there,” Olivera said. 
 
 Olivera said he has never before spent the night in prison with someone he has sentenced and doesn't know if he would do it again.
– An Afghanistan vet sentenced to a night in jail for a probation violation found himself with an unusual cellmate for the night: the judge who sentenced him. District Court Judge Lou Olivera, who runs a special treatment court for troubled veterans in North Carolina, tells ABC 11 that while former Green Beret Sgt Joe Serna had to be held accountable for lying about a urine test, he worried about what effect a night alone in a cell might have on the vet, who served three tours of duty in Afghanistan and suffers from PTSD. "When Joe first came to turn himself in, he was trembling," Olivera, a fellow vet who served in the Gulf War, tells the Fayetteville Observer. "I decided that I'd spend the night serving with him." The jailer brought in extra mats so that the judge could sleep on the floor of the one-bunk cell. Serna, who ended up in the treatment court after struggles with alcohol and a DWI charge, says he was amazed when he realized the judge was going to stay the night. They spent the night talking about their families and their military service. "It was more of a father-son conversation as opposed to a judge talking to someone and sentencing them," Serna tells WRAL. "It was personal." Olivera says his court is like a "family" and he would do the same to help other vets in the program. "They have worn the uniform and we know they can be contributing members of society," he says. "We just want to get them back there." (This group of wounded vets is helping law enforcement hunt child predators.)