MAN GETS LIFE TERM OVER 3 LBS. OF MAILED MARIJUANA

Package With Bogus Return Address Sent To Defendant's Girlfriend

A bogus return address on a package that was mailed from Southern
California almost two years ago landed a Huntsville man in prison with a
life sentence last week.

A jury convicted Joseph P. Hart, 25, of Oakdale Circle on Wednesday of
trafficking in 3 pounds of marijuana.

Assistant District Attorney Don Rizzardi said the case originated in
California in December 2000 after a postal inspector was alerted about a
package with a bogus return address. The forwarding address belonged to an
apartment on Winchester Road in Huntsville, Rizzardi said.

The California postal inspector obtained permission from a federal court
judge there to open the package, Rizzardi said. He found 3 pounds of
marijuana inside and called a postal inspector in Huntsville, he said.

The Huntsville postal inspector asked for the package to be sent here,
Rizzardi said. When it arrived, he called the Huntsville Police
Department's Organized Crime Unit.

The postal inspector dressed as a letter carrier delivered the package to
the Winchester Road address, Rizzardi said. About 20 minutes later, Hart
arrived, he said.

He was detained by police as he was leaving the apartment. When police
searched Hart, the officers discovered he didn't have the package. But he
had a measuring scale that could weigh up to four ounces. He also had an
empty plastic sandwich bag in his pocket, Rizzardi said.

Police investigator Jim Winn testified that he and the other officers
believed the contents of Hart's pockets gave them reasons to hold him.

Inside the apartment, Hart told police that he and a friend had the package
delivered to the apartment on Winchester Road, Rizzardi said. They were
going to divide the marijuana into smaller parcels.

Hart testified during his trial that the package was sent to the apartment
by an acquaintance named Roger in California. "Roger" was trying to keep a
Christmas present secret from his own girlfriend, here in Huntsville, and
he wanted an address where he could send the gift, Hart testified.

Rizzardi told the jury that Hart arranged for the man in California to mail
the package to Hart's girlfriend, Katherine Cutts, at the apartment on
Winchester Road. Hart's name was not on the package, and Cutts was to sign
using the false name on the package, Karen Smith, he said.

The police never caught "Roger," Rizzardi said. Neither Cutts nor Hart
cooperated with police by revealing the location or identity of Roger.

Cutts, who testified in court for the prosecution about her involvement in
the case, was originally charged with trafficking in marijuana but was
granted youthful offender status. The trafficking charge will not show up
on her record.

The police formally charged Hart with trafficking marijuana on Dec. 15,
2000. He was indicted by a grand jury in May 2001. He was free during the
trial in lieu of $5,000 bail.

After a daylong trial, the jury deliberated three hours before returning
the verdict. Hart has two prior felony convictions from 1997 on charges of
first-degree assault and possession of cocaine, Rizzardi said.

Circuit Judge Loyd H. Little Jr. sentenced Hart to life in prison as a
repeat offender and ordered him to pay a $25,000 fine. He will be eligible
for parole in 10 years, Rizzardi said.

Hart is in the Madison County Jail waiting to be moved to a state prison
facility. An appeal bond is not available for anyone who is sentenced to 20
years or more.