FEDERAL DRUG SENTENCES STRICTER THAN STATES

SPARTANBURG -- If you're a drug dealer, don't get sent to federal court.

Attorneys say federal sentences for drug crimes are much harsher than those
in South Carolina courts. Just ask Greg Coker, a small-time crack cocaine
dealer.

The Spartanburg man was arrested by members of a federal task force. He
pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute crack
cocaine and received almost 13 years in federal prison.

Coker's time was reduced to four years because he cooperated with
authorities. But attorney Tam Boggs, who has handled more than two-dozen
federal drug cases, said state courts allow for more latitude for plea
bargaining. "Greg probably would have pleaded to a lesser offense and gotten
three to five years," Boggs said.

Boggs said a second-time offender sent to the federal system, even if their
first offense was for simple marijuana possession, "probably would get
mandatory prison time, as opposed to the probation you might get in state
court."

That's why some law enforcement agencies in South Carolina and elsewhere
will turn some crack cocaine arrests to federal prosecutors.

Spartanburg Public Safety director Tony Fisher said the lack of plea
bargaining and stricter sentences makes his decisions clear. "If we get a
case that meets the federal guidelines," he said, "we're going federal,
period."

Union Public Safety Department Lt. Freddie Gault said his agency won't take
every low-level street dealer into the federal system. "But if there's a
bigger crack deal with a prior record, we will," he said.

Gault said several times, people his agency has arrested have gotten life
sentences in the federal system.

Trey Gowdy, a federal prosecutor from 1994 until earlier this year, said he
looked for repeat offenders or those connected to a larger drug ring.Gowdy
said local agencies hand over offenders because they "are tired of catching
the same offenders over and over again and seeing them get probation in
state court."

Sentences for crack dealing in federal and South Carolina courts are set up
differently. Federal sentences penalize offenders for their criminal history
and for the amount of crack they are caught with.

State courts also penalize for past offenses, but there are mandatory
minimum sentences for certain drug crimes.

"Let's put it this way," Gowdy says. "Go into the pods at the Spartanburg
County jail and ask the drug inmates whether they'd rather be prosecuted in
the federal system or the state system.

"I'll give you $100 for every one who says he wants to go federal."