REPEAT OFFENDERS FRUSTRATE THE LAW: OFFICIALS WORKING FOR STIFFER PENALTIES

Nearly half of the 59 people arrested in a recent undercover drug operation
are already out of jail. And it's not the first time.

Many of those arrested since Oct. 4, when City/County Vice and Narcotics
announced completion of a six-month undercover operation, are repeat
offenders. That's frustrating to law enforcement officers who, time and
again, arrest the same people for the same crimes.

"We're picking the same ones up over and over again," said Officer Donny
Williams of the Wilmington Police Department. "I've been involved on three
or four of these roundups and they get picked up every round up I've done.
It's the same faces year after year."

Those arrested over the past week - 59 out of a list of 130 - face several
drug charges, including possession with intent to sell and deliver. The
primary drug sold to the undercover officer, who is a law enforcement
officer in Georgia, was crack cocaine.

Prosecutors are working with law enforcement officers to enforce stiffer
penalties on those considered habitual offenders or someone who has been
convicted of a crime on three separate occasions.

When authorities arrested 40 of the 130 listed Oct. 4, Assistant District
Attorney Ben David met with detectives to determine how many of those were
habitual felons. Only three qualified.

"When someone gets arrested on a drug offense, that's something that they
may not face jail time as a first offender," Mr. David said. "These are
mostly sale cases. What we wanted to find is the repeat offenders. We
wanted to identify in an early stage the people who are coming through
court a lot."

Mr. David sought higher bonds for the three identified as repeat offenders
- - Terry Green, Oscar Brown and Jermaine Mitchell. Mr. Green, who is on
probation following a recent conviction of possession with intent to sell
and deliver marijuana, had an original bond of $4,000.

The bonds of those identified as habitual offenders were increased by a
judge to as much as $100,000. Repeat offenders will face similar penalties,
Mr. David said.

"We are targeting these people," he said. "They're looking at several years
in prison instead of several months. They're treated more seriously than
someone who's an armed robber."

Authorities said it will likely take months to arrest all 130 people.