BORDER DAS GOING UNPAID IN FEDERAL CASES

Some Plan To Stop Taking U.S. Agents' Drug Busts

HARLINGEN, Texas (Associated Press) -- Almost three months after Congress
set aside $12million for district attorneys along the U.S.-Mexico border,
frustrated prosecutors are still waiting for payback.

The money was supposed to ease a financial crisis on the nation's southern
edge: Local courts are stuck with multimillion-dollar tabs for prosecuting
hand-me-down federal drug cases.

But disagreement flared over how counties can spend the emergency cash and
the money never reached its destination. Not a single district attorney
from Brownsville to San Diego has received a penny.

Lawmakers blame the Justice Department. The Justice Department blames Congress.

Border prosecutors say they're through arguing. Many say they will accept
no more federal cases after Oct. 1.

"It doesn't make me feel any better; it's just that I can't afford to do it
anymore and do my job, too," said County District Attorney Heriberto Silva.
"I can't be doing 250 drug cases that don't belong to me."

The drug bust routine at international bridges and roadblocks is tried and
true: Federal agents send the bigger drug busts to the federal court. Minor
catches -- less than 50 pounds of marijuana, or small quantities of cocaine
- -- are generally passed off to local courts.

The petty arrests were once a sporadic hassle, but with the number of
federal agents and drug crackdowns on the rise, border counties have ended
up spending millions to prosecute federal drug cases.

In June, when Congress set aside the emergency money, it limited its use to
"court costs, courtroom technology, the building of holding spaces,
administrative expenses and indigent defense."

District attorneys say that doesn't make sense, given that the staggering
cost of jail and prosecution is what drove border counties to demand help
from Washington in the first place.

"The money is out there, but we can't use it to pay for the places we're
taking a hit," Cameron County District Attorney Yolanda De Leon said. The
county loses $100 million a year in courtroom and jail expenses from
federal drug prosecutions, she said.

Border lawyers will meet this week to discuss the funding failure at the
Texas District and County Attorneys Association conference.

"It makes no sense we'd continue to give this away to the federal
government," Ms. De Leon said. "Not when we're encountering real
difficulties paying for basic services."

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who sponsored the legislation, said the
Justice Department has kept the money out of reach of border communities by
sticking to a narrow interpretation of the guidelines.

"The Justice Department knows full well for what purposes this money was
appropriated," Ms. Hutchison said. "[It] has got to stop the bureaucratic
mumbo-jumbo and get the money in the hands of those who are on the front
line of the war on drugs."

Justice Department spokesmen said they can't pay for jail and prosecution
because Congress did not include those expenses in the language of the bill.

"For whatever reason the bill that passed does not include [those
expenses]," said Bill Blagg, U.S. attorney for the Western District of
Texas. "It's not possible for us to pay prosecution and incarceration
because of the language. So far, not good."

This isn't the first time state prosecutors threatened to ban federal drug
cases from their courtrooms. District attorneys first threw up their hands
this spring.

In response, the U.S. government cut a hasty agreement. Congress set aside
$12 million to pay for the drug trials. The money was to be divided evenly
among California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to try federal cases for three more months.
But unless more money was handed down by Oct. 1, they warned, the courtroom
door would swing shut.

"I don't know where the ball got dropped," Mr. Silva said.

At this point, he says, he doesn't care. Supported by just four other
attorneys and a budget of less than $1 million, Mr. Silva prosecutes crime
for three border counties: Starr, Jim Hogg and Duval.

"I already represent the police and the sheriffs, but as of next month, I
won't have to represent the DEA, the FBI and everybody else," Mr. Silva
said. "It'll be a lot easier to get around this courthouse."