FREE CLARENCE AARON

Is there any mercy in America for Clarence Aaron? Aaron has been on
the wrong end of a gross miscarriage of justice, yet somehow, few
voices will speak for him.

In 1992 at age 23, Aaron broke the law. While he was a senior at
Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., he became a go-between for
two drug dealers for two deals; one deal didn't happen, the other
involved 9 kilograms of cocaine. He was paid $1,500.

Federal prosecutors in Alabama honed in on the dealers. Eventually
they charged six individuals for the deals, including Aaron.

Oddly, having no criminal record, Aaron found himself at a distinct
disadvantage. He didn't have the drug-trade savvy that could have
instructed him in how to trade information on others in order to win
short time in prison. And Aaron didn't know that fighting prosecutors
can deliver a longer sentence than dealing drugs.

So he screwed up again - he pleaded not guilty and lied during his
trial.

All of the other five co-conspirators received shorter sentence than
Aaron. The kingpin, who admitted having made more than a million
dollars selling crack, served less than eight years. The friend who
lured Aaron into the deal had a criminal record; he and two other
co-conspirators served less than five years in prison. They garnered
shorter sentences by pleading guilty and testifying against Aaron.

Aaron's sentence for a first-time nonviolent drug offense: Life
without parole, actually three life sentences. The feds had managed to
inflate Aaron's sentence by charging him with dealing more than 23
grams of crack cocaine - even though, as the 1999 PBS "Frontline"
documentary "Snitch" reported, no physical evidence of the drugs was
presented in court. Also, the second 15-kilogram deal never happened,
and one dealer bought powder (not crack, which carries a longer
sentence than powder) cocaine from the other, but the crack charge
stuck because the buyer converted the power into crack.

Only one other co-conspirator is still in prison, and he too failed to
cut a deal.

J. Don Foster, the U.S. Attorney whose office prosecuted Aaron, told
"Frontline," "You know, the tendency to feel sorry for him is in
relation to these other people that did cooperate and that did help
themselves and got less (time). And even though they were perhaps
guiltier or more culpable, they got less because they helped solve the
case. They helped to bring everybody to justice. And the one person or
two - I think there were two that went to trial in that case - that
didn't, you know, suffer the results or the consequences of the
arrogance of thinking that you're - you're going to beat this, that
'I'm too good. I'm too good to take a deal.' "

That's a stark, if unintended, admission that some prosecutors think
crossing them is a worse crime than being a drug kingpin.

Aaron, now 38, has a spotless disciplinary record, yet he will live in
prison until he dies - unless President Bush commutes his sentence.

In July, the president commuted the 30-month prison sentence of former
vice presidential aide Scooter Libby because it was "excessive." Hello
- - Clarence Aaron's sentence is excessive, squared.

After 14 years in prison, Aaron wrote in an update to his
presidential commutation petition that he regrets "the weakness that
led me to get involved in a drug deal." And: "From the day I entered
the prison door, I made a promise to myself that I would meet the
trials of life head on, and I have become a stronger person behind
these walls." His prison work record is exemplary. He has a "clear
conduct" record. He has continued his education. In 2005, two wardens
recommended that Aaron be transferred to a lower security facility.

Newspapers frequently report stories about repeat violent offenders
who game the system, get out of prison and hurt more innocent people.
Let me be clear: Violent repeat offenders should serve hard time, and
enjoy no breaks.

But life without parole for a nonviolent first-time offense is an
outrage. And it doesn't make America safer - not when the kingpins get
out of prison sooner, because, to paraphrase Foster, they don't act
arrogant.

This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle