Dear Vicki,
Sorry to hear about the grief in your life. Like you, I have 3 boys (who do not live with me), and are all teenagers, you are living something I dread, but I know can happen.
The good news may be that now that he is "in the system", hopefully what will come out of this will be a long probation with random testing. Jail s***s, but maybe he will have enough of it to realize it is not a place he wants to be sent back to.
I know the theme here is personal responsablilty, and I am all for it, but we all need a helping hand. Be there for your boys. Some places allow you access to the DA, if you can, talk to him. School & work records may be helpful. Tell him that you are not looking for your son to get off easy, quite the contrary. A long, monitored probation would be much more benificial than any jail term. Things that go on in prison are more likely to send him back to the dark side as soon as he gets free.
I can remember being in a similar, but not as severe, mess many years ago. There were many deamons to fight, and it looked like things were so messed up, how would I ever get right. But time is the great healer, and one by one I got past each one (except alcohol, which is why I am here).
We're here to talk to, let us know how it is going!
S
PS: Been to London, Ky several times, met many nice people there, even one named Vicki...lol.