MOBILE MOTHER MAKES PLEA TO CLINTON FOR SON'S RELEASE

Linda Aaron called upon the president to free her son from a life sentence
in prison on a federal drug conviction

WASHINGTON - A Mobile mother tearfully called on President Clinton Tuesday
to free her son from a life sentence in prison on a federal drug conviction.

Linda Aaron, speaking at a Capitol Hill news conference organized by groups
opposed to long mandatory sentences for drug offenses, said her son,
Clarence Aaron, made a mistake but did not deserve to grow old in prison.

"All I ask is, just give him another chance and let him live his life," she
said.

Clinton leaves office Saturday, and opponents of mandatory minimum
penalties for federal drug offenses hope that between now and then he will
commute the sentences of at least a few more federal drug offenders.

Just before Christmas, the president did commute the sentences of two such
prisoners. One was Dorothy Gaines of Mobile, a first-time felony offender
who was serving 19 years.

Gaines was the subject of a Mobile Register profile in 1997, and Gaines and
Aaron were both featured in "Snitch," a 1999 PBS documentary about drug
defendants who got long sentences based on the word of felons who agreed to
testify in order to get their own sentences cut.

Aaron, now 31, refused to plead guilty and cooperate with federal
prosecutors who accused him of being part of a cocaine-trafficking
operation active along the Gulf Coast.

By insisting on a jury trial, he risked receiving the full force of tough
mandatory minimum penalties for conspiracy to sell cocaine. At his first
trial, the jury could not reach a verdict.

He was convicted in his second trial in September 1993. Much of the case
against him consisted of testimony from five men who pleaded guilty and got
their sentences cut by cooperating with prosecutors.

Aaron, a 23-year-old student at Southern University in Louisiana when
arrested, was held responsible for conspiring to distribute nine kilograms
of cocaine. Under the mandatory minimum laws for that amount, he was given
a life sentence, with no chance for parole. One of the jurors expressed
astonishment to PBS that Aaron would be given so lengthy a sentence for
what the juror considered to be a fairly minor role in the operation.

The longest sentence given to any of those who pleaded guilty and testified
against Aaron was eight years.

In an interview with PBS after the trial, Aaron conceded that he had been
paid $1,500 to set up a meeting of drug dealers. His mother said Tuesday
that Aaron was sorry for doing so.

She noted that he had never before been in trouble with the law ("not even
a traffic ticket") and that no drugs had been found by authorities. Aaron
was sentenced based on the testimony of cooperating witnesses, who said
nine kilograms were involved.

Aaron is at the federal prison in Atlanta.

"As of right now, he's doing the best he can," his mother said on Tuesday.

J. Don Foster is the current U.S. attorney in Mobile, but came onboard
after Aaron's conviction. He said he has reviewed Aaron's case.

"I feel sorry for the young man, and I have compassion for him, but I don't
think you could say he was treated unfairly" under the current sentencing
laws, Foster said.

Foster defended the use of "snitch" testimony, saying prosecutors are
forced to give breaks to criminals to get at the truth in drug cases. But
he also said Congress should review mandatory minimum sentences to see if
they are reasonable and effective in reducing the availability of drugs.

Besides Mrs. Aaron, other speakers at the news conference included Julie
Stewart, president of the group Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and
Ross "Rocky" Anderson, mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Anderson called current drug-fighting policy "phony" and "ineffective."

"The war on drugs, as it has been carried out, has not been a war on
drugs," Anderson said. "It has been a war against the American people and
our fundamental freedoms."

Written statements calling on Clinton to commute sentences of low-level
drug offenders came from Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Phillip Heymann,
former deputy U.S. attorney general under Clinton.

A White House spokesman said Clinton was considering a number of
commutation petitions and any announcement about them would come by Friday.

"The president does have a bunch of (commutation petitions) on his desk,
and we know he's looking at them," Stewart said. "I'm cautiously optimistic
he will do something."