SOARES' REMARK FUELS CONTROVERSY

DA Says He Was Suggesting Way To Channel Youths' Skills, Not Legitimize
Drug Trade

ALBANY -- Albany County District Attorney David Soares is under fire for
public comments he made about a plan to deter young people from the drug
trade by setting them up in legitimate businesses.

Soares, 35, was leaving an event to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on
Jan. 17 when he made some remarks to a WGY radio reporter.

Since then, his words have been aired as many as five times a day amid
declarations he wants to set up drug dealers in vacant storefronts along
Clinton Avenue.

As he exited the stage at the event sponsored by labor organizations at the
Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology, Soares stopped briefly to
discuss his ideas.

"If you're a drug dealer, no matter what level you are, you do have an
economic sense of how much to charge, delivering services," he said. "It's
a shame that we're not using that same skill set and transferring it into
something that's positive."

"It doesn't require a tremendous amount of investment," Soares went on. "It
requires certain people with certain resources to say, 'Here, we'll give
you the storefront, now what are you going to sell?' Why not let these
young people do their art work and sell it out of these storefronts, for
example, as a way of building hope."

Soares admits he can't recall exactly what was said. "I have to accept
responsibility for what I say, but I don't have to perpetuate something
that's false. If I misspoke, I acknowledge that. But it's preposterous to
think a prosecutor would advocate to move an illegal operation indoors."

"I was saying let's look at the opportunity we have here right now to turn
people around," he said. "A lot of young men and women have entrepreneurial
skills. If we were to open up these storefronts and allow them to have an
opportunity, the business is in the stores, and not out on the corner."

"I'm not looking to put together a program for drug dealers to legitimize
their business," Soares said.