FAT FISH COPS A PLEA

A common complaint about the federal government's war against unlawful
drugs is that law-enforcement catches the small fry (often black street
dealers), while the big fish pulling all the strings and making the super
bucks (usually wealthy, white big shots) get away.

This happens with such frequency that it has led to suspicions, if not
allegations, from some civil rights activists that there's an ugly
double-standard at work here - targeting the black community for most drug
arrests, because those cases are easier to prosecute, and also to get young
African-American men off the street.

Well, it's heartening to report that one big white fish is finally being
brought to justice - and we do mean big, figuratively and literally. After
denying his guilt for months corpulent 46-year-old Robert Snell of
Grovetown, known in drug circles as ''Fat Boy,'' copped a plea Monday under
what is known as the ''kingpin statute.''

Big-spending Snell, who hadn't held a job for over a decade, admitted to
making millions by engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.

Federal authorities were more specific. Snell, they said, was a key player
in a seven-man narcotics trade operation that bought and sold large
quantities of cocaine, methamphetamines, ecstacy and marijuana.

Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Patrick Clayton told Chief Judge
Dudley Bowen Jr. that Snell is one of the largest narcotics suppliers he's
ever encountered in the Augusta area.

Indeed, federal law-enforcers, who haven't exactly covered themselves with
glory lately, get high marks in their handling of the Snell case. DEA
undercover agents had the fat man dead to rights, wheeling and dealing on tape.

As part of his plea agreement, Snell will surrender $2.5 million in drug
money, plus a lavish 5-bedroom house he was building in Grovetown. And,
significantly, he also agreed to ''rat out'' other big fish higher up in
the criminal food chain.

Snell's maximum sentence could be life behind bars, a term he richly
deserves, but if the feds are impressed with his cooperation, Judge Bowen
may sentence him to something less than that next fall. Let's just hope
whatever the sentence is, it's at least as long as a street dealer would get.