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News (Media Awareness Project) - US NM: Drugs, Guns Get Man 40 Years
Title:US NM: Drugs, Guns Get Man 40 Years
Published On:2001-06-08
Source:Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Fetched On:2008-01-25 17:31:04
DRUGS, GUNS GET MAN 40 YEARS

A former Sandia Park man who had a cache of firearms and more than 100
high-grade marijuana plants at his home learned Thursday that he will serve
a 40-year prison term for his conviction on federal drug and gun charges.

But Marcus Hahn, 31, will have to wait nearly a month to find out if his
term increases 24 to 30 years when he's sentenced on a separate conviction
of federal child sexual-exploitation charges. That part of his sentencing
was postponed Thursday because of unsettled legal arguments over whether
the two sentences should run consecutively or concurrently.

After two days of testimony, Chief U.S. District Judge James A. Parker
sentenced Hahn on Thursday to 40 years for Hahn's conviction in December on
two drug-related counts and two counts of possessing firearms in connection
with his illegal business.

The charges stemmed from a raid at his home by Bernalillo County sheriff's
deputies and federal agents on Dec. 31, 1999. Besides 117 marijuana plants,
officers found 22 firearms and 30,000 rounds of ammunition.

Also found were dozens of videotapes, some of which showed boys in New
Mexico and Mexico involved in sex acts with Hahn. Some of the boys appeared
drugged. A prosecutor alleged in court that Hahn drugged boys who rebuffed
his sexual advances.

At his trial in December 2000, Hahn's attorneys, Marc Robert and Kari
Converse, claimed the stockpile of guns was in preparation for civil unrest
during Y2K. Prosecutors said the guns were meant to protect Hahn's
marijuana operation.

In March, Hahn pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a
child and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance to an
individual with intent to commit a crime. He also pleaded no contest to a
third distribution count.

With Hahn's family looking on Wednesday, a therapist testified that Hahn is
a "situational sex offender" with a drug problem who was abused as a child.
He said Hahn is attracted to adolescent boys, but he noted Hahn is amenable
to treatment and is remorseful.

As the therapist testified, Hahn dabbed at his teary eyes.

Department of Justice trial attorney Georgiann Cerese, one of Hahn's
prosecutors, said in court that some of the videos showed close-ups of
boys' groins on the beaches of Australia. Cerese also alleged Hahn
impersonated an immigration official to boys in Mexico in order to molest them.

Parker, who at one point said he was inclined to sentence Hahn toward the
"bottom end" of required federal sentencing guidelines, postponed
sentencing on the sex charges for July 3. He said he was "uneasy" with
imposing the sentence using last-minute legal arguments by the attorneys,
who sparred over whether the sentence should run atop the 40-year term.

According to a preliminary estimate from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Hahn
faces a range of 292 months to 365 months next month.
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