DRUG SENTENCE TO STAND HELFRICH DENIES JACKSON'S REQUEST

Kado Jackson's 50-year prison sentence and $25,000 fine for selling drugs
near a Hattiesburg church won't be reduced, Forrest-Perry Circuit Court
Judge Bob Helfrich said Wednesday.

"I consider drug dealers a danger to the community," Helfrich said
Wednesday as he denied Jackson's request to reduce his sentence, order
a new trial or allow him to be released on bond.

Jackson, 34, was convicted Dec. 16 of selling cocaine near Beacon
Baptist Church on James Street. Under state law, selling drugs within
1,500 feet of a church or school allows a judge to double the penalty.

Nearly three pounds of cocaine were seized with Jackson during the
arrest.

Defense attorney Tracy Klein said Jackson will continue his legal
fight.

"This is another step in the process, and we will appeal to the
Supreme Court," Klein said Wednesday.

Klein argued the sentence was an unjust and inconsistent punishment
considering he is a first offender and people convicted of similar
crimes got lighter sentences.

But Helfrich said he considered Jackson a major player in the drug
market and that his first-time offender label is a mere
technicality.

"I do not consider you a first-time offender. It was the first time
you got caught," Helfrich told Jackson. "No one starts dealing at the
level at which you were caught.

"I firmly believe in rehabilitation. We are working to rehabilitate
addicts in drug court. I do not believe a dealer, especially a dealer
of this magnitude can be rehabilitated," Helfrich added.

The Rev. Kenneth Fairley of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, who served as
one of Kado's character witnesses, said Helfrich's message that a
person cannot change hurt him deeply.

"The hardest thing for me to deal with is the judge referring to Kado
as a predator that cannot be changed," Fairley said. "I think it's a
sad day for humanity when we believe that people cannot change."

Jackson's wife of eight years, Sandra Willis-Jackson, denied her
husband's drug connection even though he admitted during his December
trial that the cocaine seized during his arrest was his.

"My husband has never really been involved in drugs," Willis-Jackson
told Helfrich.

A group of concerned citizens who feel that Jackson's sentence is
unjust and inconsistent with previous, similar cases are scheduled to
protest in front of the Hattiesburg American on Friday at 9 a.m.

The group chose the newspaper in hopes of enhancing media coverage,
said rally participant James Rogers.