DRUG DEALER FREED ON 'TIME SERVED'

Big-time drug dealers rarely leave a federal courtroom in Philadelphia smiling.

They usually get slapped with big-time sentences.

But Clifton Cato, a former South Street shoe dealer, had good reason to be
pleased and relieved yesterday.

Cato, 42, admittedly had grossed millions of dollars since the 1970s by
smuggling more than 12 tons of marijuana into the city.

But after leaving his Jamaican hideout and voluntarily surrendering to
authorities in 1998 to face smuggling charges, Cato became a witness for
the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, and helped to convict more
than 30 other drug traffickers.

So prosecutors recommended leniency, saying Cato's cooperation had been
"nothing less than extraordinary."

Instead of being sentenced to prison for 15 years, the minimum term
required by his sentencing guidelines, Cato was set free by U.S. District
Judge Anita B. Brody.

Cato, 42, a native of Jamaica who came to Philadelphia in 1970, has been in
prison the past 34 months.

His sentence was "time served."

"Thank you, Jesus," several relatives of the defendant said in a prayerful
tone of voice after the judge spoke.

Although a $650,000 forfeiture - his estimated "net profits" on about
11,000 pounds of pot - was imposed, authorities don't expect to get very
much from Cato, who claims to be broke.

Federal authorities have recovered $32,619.53 - the proceeds from the sale
of three properties that Cato owned in Philadelphia, said Assistant U.S.
Attorney Mark Ehlers.

In addition, Cato plans to turn over whatever he makes from the sale of
more than 200 acres of Jamaican farmland, said to be worth about $90,000,
Ehlers said.

Cato also has agreed to relinquish an additional $12,000 once he redeems
two certificates of deposit, now in Jamaican banks.

The rest of the money Cato made selling the weed is long gone, prosecutors
believe.

Cato apologized to the judge for his life of crime and promised to go straight.

"I'm prepared to live within my means and within the boundaries of the
law," Cato told the judge. "I know that I can prove to society that I'm a
changed man. God can change anyone."

Cato, who also sold insurance and had a catering business and a food stand
in Philadelphia, pleaded guilty earlier to trafficking in marijuana over a
two-year period.

In trial testimony, Cato acknowledged selling more than 24,200 pounds of
pot over the years.

"I knew the difference between right and wrong. I chose to do wrong. I did
it because of greed."