VA. LEADS IN CRACK SENTENCE REDUCTIONS

Under new rules, federal judges in the state have lowered the terms
of at least 825 prisoners.

NEWPORT NEWS - Virginia leads the nation in the number of prisoners
who've had sentences reduced under new federal sentencing guidelines
for crack cocaine, U.S. Sentencing Commission numbers show.

Federal judges in Virginia have lowered the sentences of at least 825
prisoners since the new rules took effect March 3 -- with the average
prisoner getting more than two years cut from a sentence, according
to a recent report from the commission.

Judges have granted sentence reductions to 65 percent of the 1,271
federal prisoners in Virginia whose applications were acted upon by
July 22. The numbers don't show how many have been released from prison.

Over the past 5 1/2 months, local defense attorneys, federal
prosecutors and judges have been busy working on a slew of sentencing
reductions coming through the federal system.

"We're making progress," said Michael S. Nachmanoff, the
Alexandria-based federal public defender for the Eastern District of
Virginia. "We've certainly gotten through huge number of cases in a
pretty short amount of time."

The seven-member Sentencing Commission voted late last year to
modestly reduce a vast and longstanding disparity in sentences
involving equal amounts of crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. The
commission then applied the change to thousands of people already
behind bars.

Critics have long contended that the sentencing discrepancy is more
about race than the drugs themselves: That is, those convicted on
crack offenses -- more likely to be black than those convicted on
powdered-cocaine offenses -- are treated more harshly than those
convicted of powdered-cocaine offenses. But they are essentially the
same drug, except that crack is smoked, while powder is snorted or
injected.

Under the old sentencing guidelines, people convicted of dealing 50
grams (1.75 ounces) of crack for the first time would get between 10
and 12 1/2 years in prison, whereas someone convicted of dealing the
same weight of powdered cocaine would get between 21 and 27 months.
Under the new guidelines, the person dealing crack would get between
eight and 10 years -- a two-year reduction -- while the
powdered-cocaine punishment would remain the same.

Eastern Virginia -- where crack-cocaine arrests were numerous
throughout the 1990s, particularly with an anti-gun initiative called
Project Exile and other efforts -- is the nationwide region most
affected by the new guidelines. The district includes Hampton Roads,
the Richmond region and Northern Virginia.

Last year, the Sentencing Commission estimated Virginia's Eastern
District would rank first among the 94 U.S. districts in the number
of people eligible to have their sentences cut under the new rules.

The Eastern District has 1,404 prisoners, or 7.2 percent of the
19,500 national total, who might be eligible to get out early under
the sentencing change. That far outpaces federal court districts that
include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and Miami. The
Western District of Virginia -- which covers Roanoke, Lynchburg and
Charlottesville -- is fourth on the list.

The change applies only to crack convictions in federal courts, not
state courts. Under Virginia's sentencing guidelines, crack offenses
are treated equally with those for powdered cocaine.

Each case, typically filed by a defense attorney or the defendant, is
looked at by prosecutors before judges make a ruling on a reduction.
Before the new guidelines took effect, there was a concern that the
crack-sentencing reductions would take too much time from
prosecutors' other cases. That was a big reason the Bush
administration opposed applying the new guidelines retroactively to
people in prison.

But Deanna Warren, a spokeswoman with the U.S. attorney's Norfolk
office, said it hadn't been a problem. The work is divvied out to
prosecutors on a rotating basis. Judges, too, she said, have
efficiently pushed cases through.

"I think our system has worked," she said. "It's been very smooth,
once we got the system down. The court has done a great job.
Everybody has done their fair share."

Shortly after the new guidelines took effect in March, Warren said,
she saw 25 motions coming across her desk each week -- with the work
sometimes taking up more than half her day. Now, she said, that has
fallen to three or four a week. "At first, I just had to dedicate
more time to it," she said.

Ivan Davis, first assistant federal public defender for the Eastern
District, handles many of the motions coming through the Alexandria
office. "We're well oiled and well tuned at this point," Davis said.
"We have these motions that just go out, and certain things have to
be changed in them. On a not too busy day, I can get out 10 regular
motions."

The average successful applicant in the Eastern District has seen
prison time reduced by 29 months, or nearly 2 1/2 years. That's a 18
percent cut from the average 13-year sentence.

Some have gotten bigger breaks. In one Alexandria case, Davis said, a
man was scheduled to serve life in prison but has now seen his
sentence reduced to 30 years. Because he has served 20 years and will
get some time knocked off for good behavior, he could be out in seven
years -- rather than spending the rest of his days in prison.

But some defendants' applications have been rejected. The reasons are
varied, including other charges that haven't been reduced and
mandatory minimum sentences on particular charges. Inmates who are
career offenders or have had problems with discipline in prison have
also been rejected.

Between March 3 and July 22, federal judges nationwide have acted on
10,707 crack-sentencing reductions, granting 8,147, or 76 percent of
the applications.

In the Eastern District of Virginia, judges have acted on 635 cases
- -- granting 394 cases, or 62 percent.

Once hundreds of pending cases are heard, the Eastern District is
likely to surpass the Western District of Virginia as No. 1 in the
nation.

"I'm confident that we're going to be number one here shortly, given
the number of cases we still have," Nachmanoff said.

New guidelines for crack

Under old sentencing guidelines, people convicted of dealing 50 grams
(1.75 ounces) of crack for the first time would get a prison
sentence between 10 and 12 1/2 years. Someone convicted of dealing
the same weight of powdered cocaine would get between 21 months and 2
1/4 years.

Under new guidelines, the person dealing crack would get between
eight and 10 years -- a two-year reduction --while the
powdered-cocaine punishment would remain the same.