DRUG OFFENDERS SERVING LESS PRISON TIME

Researchers Say Findings Indicate Authorities Targeting Lesser Crimes;
First-Timers Benefit

WASHINGTON -- Despite a massive expansion of the nation's drug war,
narcotics traffickers and users busted by federal law-enforcement agencies
are doing far less time in prison than in years past, according to
interviews and new data released yesterday.

Researchers at Syracuse University said new statistics suggest that federal
authorities are failing to target the most dangerous drug kingpins and the
most drug-infested areas, focusing instead on lower-level marijuana crimes.

As a result, judges may be meting out shorter sentences -- a result of
weaker cases or less serious offenses, the researchers said.

Primary beneficiaries of the shorter sentences were nonviolent, first-time
offenders and criminals who saved the government the cost of a trial and
helped agents catch fellow lawbreakers in return for being allowed to plead
guilty to lesser charges.

"There are a number of reasons for the decline," Justice Department
spokesman John Russell said. "Enactment of the `safety valve' provision for
first-time, nonviolent drug offenders; the trend among drug defendants
toward more guilty pleas and fewer trials; and the increase in the number of
drug defendants providing substantial assistance" to investigators.

Severe Drop In Calif.

The reduction of drug sentences appears particularly severe in Southern
California, according to the new statistics, which are based on the federal
government's computerized data obtained through the Freedom of Information
Act.

Notorious as a gateway for drug importers, Southern California once meted
out the toughest drug sentences in the country, according to the most recent
statistics compiled by TRAC, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
at Syracuse University. But the group's study shows that penalties in that
region have shrunk by more than half, from an average federal sentence of 18
years in 1992 to seven years in 1998.

Nationwide, federal drug sentences fell 22 percent over the same period,
even as the number of drug prosecutions and convictions reached record
levels, the study found. Working on the assumption that more-populated areas
have more drug activity, the researchers ranked 90 federal court districts
by the number of federal drug referrals per capita.

DEA, Customs Study's Focus

The study focused primarily on the DEA and Customs -- the two leading
agencies in the federal anti-drug effort -- and it raised questions about
the consistency and effectiveness with which both enforce drug laws.

Several experts in the law-enforcement and drug communities said they were
surprised by the findings. No one seemed certain how to explain them, but
all agreed that the statistics -- particularly the severe drop in drug
sentences -- are worth closer scrutiny and could mark a potentially
significant trend with broad implications for anti-narcotics enforcement.

TRAC, a nonprofit research organization, has been a thorn in the
government's side in recent years, suing repeatedly -- and successfully --
under the Freedom of Information Act for access to data that the government
had refused to divulge.

DEA spokesman Terry Parham said, "We are reviewing the study itself and we
are working with TRAC, because we found some discrepancies in their
numbers."

While federal authorities have disputed TRAC's methodology in past studies,
the group's findings have drawn attention.

`Mixed Message'

The White House drug czar's office will be studying the report's "mixed
message" to determine its implications, spokesman Bob Weiner said. But he
added that the findings on shorter sentences, although surprising, may
simply reflect the increased discretion that judges have been allowed in
recent years in avoiding "mandatory minimum" sentences.