COURT AT FRONT LINE OF DRUG WAR

Ever-Rising Number Of 'Mules' Processed

CHULA VISTA -- They file into the courtroom, their faces forlorn, wrists
handcuffed, heads bowed.

It is just after 1:30 p.m. in the South Bay superior courtroom of Judge
William S. Cannon, and another day in the unique court is about to begin.

In the drug war there are the generals, the Arellano Felixes, the Pablo
Escobars. There are lieutenants, corporals, lowly soldiers.

And then there are the small fry, the mules. Like Jose Tomas Aquero
Medrano, Miguel Bermudes, Francisco Ibarra and Cirilio Lopez Morales, who
were brought before Cannon last month.

Since 1995, under an agreement with federal prosecutors, thousands of
small-time smugglers who have been caught by customs agents at the
international border in San Ysidro have been handed over to local
prosecutors, who brought charges in state court.

What started with a handful of cases - about 200 in its first year,
according to the District Attorney's Office - has turned into close to
2,000 prosecutions per year.

They now account for between 35 percent and 40 percent of all felony case
filings in the South Bay courthouse here, according to supervising Judge
Jesus Rodriguez. South Bay is the smallest of the county's five courts.

Previously, these small-time smugglers were prosecuted by the federal
government as misdemeanors - a veritable slap on the wrist. Some simply
were not prosecuted as the federal officials turned their attention to
bigger cases with bigger drug loads - trying to catch a bigger fish.

Then, seven years ago county prosecutors agreed to take smaller cases that
fit certain guidelines. Most cases involve marijuana smuggling, although
some also involve small amounts of cocaine, said Deputy District Attorney
David Greenberg, the chief of his office's South Bay branch.

Prosecutions involve loads of 220 pounds or less, and only focus on
first-time offenders. Greater amounts of drugs or smugglers with a previous
record are handled by federal prosecutors, said Greenberg.

Under the guidelines of the agreement between the county and the federal
government, the cases must have a connection to San Diego County. For
instance, the car the drugs were found in must be registered in San Diego,
the smuggler must live here, or the drugs must be destined for delivery in
the county.

The crush of cases is handled expeditiously. About 95 percent of all
defendants plead guilty at their first court appearance, and are sentenced
two weeks later, said Greenberg.

"The huge majority of these cases, they are simply sentencing cases," he
said. "There is really no defense."

In most other felonies in which defendants plead guilty it takes at least a
month to process a case.

The average amount of drugs confiscated is 50 to 60 pounds, said Rodriguez.
While that may sound large, it is small compared to the flood of drugs
authorities say is crossing over the border.

Typically, defendants have been recruited to drive a car across the border,
leave it at a designated location and collect $500. They often are used by
large operators to probe the border defenses, or even to try to distract
agents while other operatives attempt to smuggle in a much larger load.

"They are the mules, and they are not major dealers," said Rodriguez.

Greenberg said instead of small smugglers getting hit only with a
misdemeanor, at worst, when processed by federal authorities, they now face
harsher penalties.

All cases are filed as felonies, which can never be reduced in the future
by a judge. Non-citizens are deported and excluded from entering the
country again.

"We want to make sure we don't let people smuggle drugs in here on a
smaller level without any consequences," said Greenberg.

Sentences can vary, however, and often are tied to the amount of drugs
found. Frequently, defense lawyers say privately, defendants are sentenced
to one day in jail for each pound of marijuana.

Rodriguez, however, said this formula is only a "guideline" for judges who
handle the calendar. The maximum penalty can be two years in state prison,
but most are sentenced to far less, in a process that is so seamless the
court processing might take only a few minutes.

On the day when Medrano and the three other defendants appeared in court,
Cannon took less than 10 minutes to hand out four sentences: 68 days in
jail for Medrano, 51 days for Ibarra, 99 days for Bermudes and 180 days for
Morales.

For handling the cases the federal government budgets about $1 million for
prosecutors in San Diego and Imperial counties.

Neither the Public Defender's Office, which rotates one deputy each four
months to handle all the cases, nor the courts receive any federal funds.
It costs the courts about $200,000 per year to handle the cases, said
Rodriguez.

And there appears to be no let-up. This year officials are projecting
filing in excess of 2,000 cases in the South Bay court.

The only time the flow of smugglers eased was after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, when security along the border was heightened and tightened to
extraordinary high levels. Rodriguez said the case load all but dried up.

That soon ended, however, and the calendar began to grow again. "It was
nice while it lasted," Rodriguez said.