COEUR d'ALENE - Before Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies arrived at his wife's Coeur d'Alene home on Dec. 5, Jacob Moore talked to his wife about turning himself in.

"I didn't want to be on the run anymore," Moore said.

But the 25-year-old was high on meth, not thinking clearly. Instead, he asked his wife, Janae, to tell the deputies he wasn't there. While hiding, Moore placed a phone call to nearby Atlas Elementary School.

"I made a poor decision to call in a bomb threat so I could get out of there and have another day out,'" Moore said. "I regret it and always will. It's the first time I've taken it to another level and scared people in an effort to not get caught."

During an interview recently at the Kootenai County jail, Moore said he has been on the run for most of his life.

When he was 10, Moore moved from South Dakota to Coeur d'Alene with his mother and three sisters. He told The Press he immediately started getting into trouble. By the time he turned 11, he was addicted to meth.

Moore quickly found himself either incarcerated at a juvenile facility or committed to the state. Every time he was released, Moore knew his urine sample would test positive for methamphetamine so he would often attempt to elude authorities.

"I've been out in the community maybe 18 months total, since I was 11," he added.

Moore was arrested shortly after calling in the fake bomb threat in December. In Kootenai County District Court, four criminal cases were combined - three recent felonies, including the bomb threat, along with a felony probation violation. They were heard by Judge John Mitchell.

"Judge Mitchell knows my history and mental health issues," Moore said. "I was abused as a child and was diagnosed with PTSD and major depressive disorder. I think he sees something in me a lot of people don't."

When handing down his sentence, the judge told Moore that because he is capable of doing well in prison, he was recommending him for a rider program.

The rider is a sentencing option in Idaho that allows the court to retain jurisdiction over the offender for a set period of time while the offender participates in educational and therapeutic programs during incarceration.

At the end of an offender's rider period, usually one year, the judge reviews Department of Correction documentation detailing progress the inmate did or didn't make. The judge will then decide whether to release that person on probation, or impose a previously determined jail sentence.

If Moore fails to make adequate progress while incarcerated over the course of a year, he could end up serving up to 28 years in prison.

But that's OK with Moore.

"I feel like I used up my last chance three chances ago," Moore said. "With the rider, I really want to show people I'm not a monster - I can be a better person, and I'm going to be."

In 2014, judges throughout Idaho sentenced 2,269 offenders to riders.

Ashley Dowell, Deputy Chief of Prisons with the Idaho Department of Correction, said three types of rider sentencing options have been available to Idaho judges since 2010.

Although each program varies in length and makeup depending on the how an individual is assessed, the programs are generally structured as follows:

* Correctional Alternative Placement Program - A 90-day program that provides intensive treatment for substance abuse and cognitive issues for low-to-moderate-risk inmates. In order to be eligible for the CAPP, an inmate has to have a GED certificate or high school diploma.

* Traditional Rider Program - A 120-day program where an inmate is incarcerated in a therapeutic environment where he or she undergoes intensive programming and education.

* Therapeutic Community Rider - A 270-day program with more intensive drug and alcohol programming.

"If a judge puts someone on a rider, and they know that person has done well on treatment, that gives them sort of a snapshot of their amenability to change," Dowell said.

By design, rider programs are intense.

IDOC spokesperson Jeff Ray told The Press that offenders on riders are "not at a country club by any means." Studies by the department have shown that less than 50 percent of inmates released after participating in rider programs are incarcerated again within three years.

"Anytime you can give someone who is re-entering your community a chance to participate in programming and treatment, the community benefits when they're released on supervision or they're ultimately released from the criminal justice system," Dowell said.

Moore told The Press he is grateful for the opportunity to be in the rider program. He plans to succeed, he said.

Upon successful completion of his rider, Moore's sentencing conditions require that he must participate, while on probation, in Mental Health Drug Court or the local Good Samaritan program - a private, faith-based, long-term treatment option.

"I've wasted so many opportunities already and I thought I was going to go to prison. This was a really big wakeup call," Moore said. "I'm married and have people who care about me - I want to be better for them."

He added that he would like to go to school and study for a career in the automotive industry. More importantly, Moore said, he wants to be there for his wife and their two children.

"I want to do all the normal things that families do, the little things like family nights, going to the movies, and eating together," Moore said. "I've never done any of those things before."