DRUG GANG WINS RESENTENCING

7th Ward Soldiers May Avoid Life In Jail

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the convictions of the members of
a violent drug gang dubbed the 7th Ward Soldiers, but reluctantly
overturned the life sentences received by six of the defendants because
prosecutors failed to specify how much cocaine was sold by the group.

The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the
case sent back for resentencing in district court, where the six defendants
- -- Clifford Baptiste, Brian Jones, Rico Schexnayder, Leshawn Parker, Garion
McCoy and Christopher Frank -- are likely to have their prison terms
reduced to 30 years or less. A seventh defendant, Percy Franklin, is
unaffected because he originally was sentenced to 20 years. Prosecutors
described the defendants as a vicious street gang that dominated the
cocaine market in the small New Orleans neighborhood through brazen acts of
bloodshed. Defense attorneys tried to argue that their clients were nothing
more than a loose-knit group of friends connected only by their roots in
the 7th Ward area where they grew up. They said the name "7th Ward
Soldiers" was an invention of federal agents who wanted to lump the men
together to make them easier to prosecute.

But the appellate judges -- Edith H. Jones, Carolyn Dineen King and Thomas
Reavley -- upheld the sweeping convictions against the defendants,
including charges of operating a drug conspiracy that resulted in several
murders.

"There is . . . sufficient evidence that all of the appellants knew of and
participated in this agreement to operate an open-air drug market," Jones
wrote in the 20-page unanimous decision.

"Many of the appellants responded to the murders of their friends with
killing sprees against the rival group of drug dealers. In the face of this
evidence, a rational jury could reasonably have found that an agreement
existed among the appellants."

The conspiracy charge allowed prosecutors to seek life prison terms, but
the appeals court ruled that the enhanced sentences were invalid because
prosecutors did not specify the amount of cocaine sold by the group.

In a carefully worded paragraph of the decision, the panel expressed
obvious displeasure about this apparent tactical error by prosecutors.

"One cannot help but note the unfortunate consequence here: conspirators
who killed or maimed seven people without compunction, three of them in one
family and two in another, in order to wipe out their rivals or intimidate
witnesses, may be sentenced to a maximum of 20 or 30 years in prison,"
Jones wrote.

In explaining that their hands were tied by previous rulings, Jones wrote,
"As it stands, a disproportionately lenient result is compelled by our
current precedent."

In the eyes of the appeal court, the oversight could easily have been
avoided by adding the cocaine quantities to the original indictment. In
order to obtain life sentences, prosecutors needed to prove that the
defendants sold more than 50 grams of cocaine. In fact, prosecutors
presented evidence of far greater quantities, the panel ruled, but never
asked the jury to consider the drug amounts.

"While the evidence at trial abundantly demonstrated that conspiracy
members were selling an ounce of crack cocaine or more every week for
several years, the jury was never asked to find a particular quantity of
drugs," the panel wrote. Reavley and King, the 5th Circuit's chief judge,
were appointed by President Carter. Jones was appointed by President Reagan.

Barring further appeals, the case will be sent back to U.S. District Court
Judge Edith Brown Clement for resentencing.