POLICE, DA SAY JUDGE WAS TOO LENIENT IN DRUG CASE

Police are seething at a Washoe District Court judge's recent
sentencing of two methamphetamine traffickers involved in one of the
county's largest drug busts, and county prosecutors say they may let
federal officials handle big drug cases in the future.

Instead of receiving mandatory sentences of 10 years to life in
prison for trafficking 18 pounds of methamphetamine, 22-year-old
Yadira Fuentes was given probation by Judge Steven Kosach.
Co-defendant Martha Magana-Silva was sentenced to one year in prison
after the judge decided both had provided "substantial assistance" to
law enforcement.

Nevada law allows drug traffickers to avoid lengthy prison sentences
if they lead police to their suppliers or help officers build other
drug cases. The judge decides whether substantial assistance was
given.

But Lt. Doug Cardwell, commander of the Consolidated Narcotics Unit,
said the minimal information provided by Fuentes and Magana-Silva
after they spent nearly a year in jail waiting for their case to be
tried was of no use to detectives. He called Kosach's justification
for giving the women reduced sentences a mockery of the system.

"My guys work very hard under very dangerous conditions to make these
cases," Cardwell said. "This was one of the biggest cases ever and
they get off with a slap on the wrist. It's frustrating."

Kosach said he is bound by judicial ethics not to comment on a case
that might be appealed but said the sentencing wasn't a difficult
decision.

"I don't really feel like I need to give my side because it wasn't
that hard of a decision to make," he said. "Those two women did what
they did and I had to make judgment call."

Assistant District Attorney John Helzer fought to keep the 1999 case
in the state court system when federal prosecutors asked to take it
because of the amount of drugs involved. Washoe County prosecutors
had helped police build the case against Fuentes and Martha
Magana-Silva and wanted to see it to the finish.

"I've had serious questions asked of me whether I made the right
decision," Helzer said. "If I had it to do over again, I would send
it to the feds. I thought we as a state could take care of business."

Kosach said he is disappointed by the reaction to his sentence and
wants to meet with CNU detectives and Helzer to "clear the air."

Undercover narcotic detectives had spent six months trying to track
down the leader of a methamphetamine ring operating in Washoe County
when they finally came across Fuentes last December. Because the ring
leader had his "runners" deal the drugs, police never had enough
evidence to arrest him for trafficking, Cardwell said.

Fuentes and Magana-Silva could have provided the evidence detectives
were looking for. The women, however, decided to remain silent at the
time of their arrest.

On three separate occasions, undercover detectives purchased a
quarter of an ounce of methamphetamine from Fuentes, known to them as
Jennifer Paz-Hernandez, Officer Ernesto Leyva said. After the third
buy, police followed Fuentes until she met with Magana-Silva.

The two women then drove to a storage shed on Longley Lane. Police
watched Magana-Silva go into the storage shed and arrested both when
she returned to the car, Leyva said.

Police found two pounds of meth inside the car and another 16 pounds
of the drug inside the storage shed.

"Eighteen pounds of meth is as big as deals get in Reno," Cardwell said.

Undercover officers already knew Magana-Silva. They had arrested her
in May on charges of possession of a controlled substance. Two months
later, while she was free on bail from the arrest in May, they picked
her up again on another charge of possessing a controlled substance.

She was serving probation on the two charges when officers found her
with Fuentes.

Investigators gave the women several opportunities to work with them,
Leyva said.

"What it comes down to is an interpretation of what substantial
assistance is," Leyva said. "To us, it is if they give us information
we can use to make an arrest or if they do a controlled buy from
their source. They render assistance or they go to prison."

Both women were adamant about keeping quiet, Leyva said.

Fuentes and Magana-Silva originally pleaded innocent to a Level III
trafficking charge, which carries mandatory sentences of 10 years to
25 years in prison or 10 years to life and a $500,000 fine. Nine
months after their arrest, their lawyers worked out plea agreements
with Deputy District Attorney Roy Stralla.

As part of the agreement, Magana-Silva wrote what Stralla
characterized as a "come clean" letter, describing what she did and
naming her suppliers. She drove around Reno with CNU detectives
pointing out the homes of her customers and suppliers. She also said
Fuentes had worked for her and was not responsible for the load of
meth found in the shed.

But many of the people Magana-Silva named no longer lived at the
addresses she provided and detectives could never confirm the
information she gave them, Cardwell said.

According to Stralla, her plea did not involve providing "substantial
assistance." At her sentencing on Oct. 26, Stralla recommended she
receive 10 to 25 years in prison, the lesser of the two mandatory
sentences outlined by Nevada law.

Magana-Silva's lawyer argued she provided substantial assistance,
completed drug rehabilitation and deserved probation because she had
worked to fix her life while in jail.

Kosach agreed that she had provided assistance and sentenced her to one year.

Four days later, Fuentes lawyer sent a letter to police indicating
Fuentes also wanted to provide assistance. Fuentes, who has no prior
drug convictions, had earlier pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of
Level II trafficking. Stralla was recommending a prison sentence of
two to five years.

"I had no idea he would give her probation, which is ridiculous," Stralla said.

Because the transcript to Fuentes Nov. 16 sentencing is sealed, the
information she offered during the hearing as substantial assistance
is not available. Leyva, who attended the hearing, said she gave the
judge a name of her alleged supplier.

Kosach would not comment on the information.

Fuentes' tip also did not help CNU build any additional cases.

"I was very upset," Leyva said. "What upset me the most was she sat
there and said she wasn't going to render assistance. She sat there
and said she was going to take her lumps and do the time."

Because of federal sentencing rules, both women would have served at
least 10 years in prison if they had been convicted in federal court,
Helzer said. And Magana-Silva's prior convictions would have added
time to the total.

Kosach said he generally decides whether a defendant has assisted
police based on advice from the detective working the case. He then
adjusts the length of the sentence based on the amount of drugs and
the defendantís criminal history.

He said he feels sorry for the "mules," people such as Fuentes and
Magana-Silva who deal the drugs for a ring leader and then pass along
the profits.

Kosach also said he disagrees with the substantial assistance law,
which allows dealers to inform on each other to get off the hook.

"I think it is a valuable tool for law enforcement," he said. "But I
don't like it. If you or I tattle on each other, it is not a good
thing to do. You're a rat. In the drug culture, it's dirty business.
And it's dangerous. I've had a couple (of defendants) not give
substantial assistance because they felt it was too dangerous."

Helzer said the law forces a trafficker to make a choice between
serving a lengthy prison sentence in order to continue in the drug
culture or stop dealing drugs for life.

"If you make the decision to help law enforcement, you're pretty much
out of the drug business," he said. "You're burning those bridges. If
you don't, you're a better soldier."