50-YEAR SENTENCE DRAWS CRITICISM

A group concerned with the 50-year prison sentence that convicted
Hattiesburg drug dealer Kado Jackson got after a jury found him guilty in
December is reviewing criminal dispositions in Forrest County to see if the
sentence was fair.

"This is not just about Kado," said Tonyia Fairley, a classmate of
Jackson's. "We're pretty upset with this and we want to take a close look at
the judicial process to make sure it's fair and consistent. What you do for
one you should do for others."

A Dec. 16 jury convicted Jackson, 34, of the sale of a controlled substance
within 1,500 feet of a church, which doubles the penalties. Nearly three
pounds of cocaine were seized with Jackson at the time of his arrest.

Fairley said she and others became concerned when Jackson, a first-time
offender, received the long sentence and $25,000 fine from Forrest-Perry
Circuit Judge Bob Helfrich.

"We are not dealing with what he did, but what happened to him in the
courts," Fairley said. "For example, what do other first-time offenders
get?"

Jackson's attorney, Tracy Klein, whose motion for a new trial and appeal of
his sentence will be heard Feb. 26, argued before Helfrich that in other
drug sentences the most given was five years.

"All I look for from the system is parity and fairness and it was missing
from this case," Klein said.

Klein said he was unaware that a group was being formed about the Jackson
sentence.

"I'll present my arguments at the motion hearing," he said.

Fairley said she and other supporters will also be at the meeting. "We are
going to look for facts about the system, so we will be prepared," she said.

Helfrich said he cannot comment about any particular case.

"I explained the reasons for my sentence from the bench," he said. At his
Dec. 19 sentencing, Helfrich said over the last decade, crack cocaine has
ruined the lives of countless citizens.

"What disturbs me is that you are not a user, but a predator who preys on
the sickness and weakness of others for profit," Helfrich told Jackson. "For
that reason I will show no mercy."

In his sentencing Helfrich made mention of Jackson's status as a major
player in the drug market and the fact that he admitted making crack
cocaine, the most addictive form of cocaine.

John McRae, former director of Pine Grove's alcohol and drug rehabilitation
unit, said long sentences for drug dealers are appropriate.

"I've treated people for the past 14 years with additions to cocaine," McRae
said. "This is an illness that destroys entire families. Cocaine is a
terrible drug."

McRae said the way to deter drug sales is to get dealers off the streets and
into prison.

"Light sentences do not curb this problem," he said. "Anyone with as much
cocaine as was found in this case is obviously an experienced dealer."