STUDY SAYS ONE IN FOUR DEALERS DO TIME

Officials Call It Misleading

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- A new University of New Hampshire study suggests only
one in four convicted drug dealers in the state does prison time, but top
law enforcement officials assail the report as flat-out wrong.

Salem Police Sgt. John Tommasi wrote the study, using 1996 data, for his
master's thesis in economics.

It said 232 defendants were convicted in 1996 of felonies for selling or
intending to sell drugs. Of those, 174 received no prison time and were
placed on probation.

But Tommasi did not include dealers who were in a strictly regimented
prison program that focuses on rehabilitation. Doing so would have
increased the number of incarcerated convicts to 91, or 39 percent, he said
Thursday.

Tommasi said he did not count those inmates because he did not understand
that dealers are incarcerated while in the program. He said the facility
was described to him as an alternative, low-security facility that would
not be considered prison.

"He obviously, as a student, should have taken the time to educate himself
about what the circumstances are in the state," said Merrimack County
Attorney Michael Johnson. "I don't think I92d have given him a passing
grade. That's just plain sloppy scholarship."

Although he said he appreciated Tommasi's effort, Johnson also questioned
his numbers, which he calculated from information provided by the Sentence
Review Division of the New Hampshire Superior Court Center. Tommasi said
there were 12 convictions in Merrimack County in 1996, but Johnson's office
said there were 20.

Tommasi said he researched data county by county because there are no
statewide statistics on drug-dealer convictions and punishments.

Tommasi, a police officer for 21 years, said his goal was to assess drug
dealers' job risks: How much time can a dealer expect to spend in prison if
he's caught, and how does that compare to the high pay they get? The
initial finding that only 25 percent do time surprised him, he said.

"If you want to suppress the selling of drugs, raise the cost to the drug
dealer," Tommasi said. "Having more incarceration is one of the ways of
doing that."

At 39 percent, the revised incarceration rate still would not have
reflected all dealers punished by the state.

Some offenders whom authorities deem low risks -- for example, a first
offender who gave his friend marijuana -- take part in the Academy program,
which allows them to live at home while following strict schedules of drug
treatment, counseling and educational and vocational training. If they fail
to follow the regimen, they go to prison.

In Merrimack County, 12 of the 20 people convicted in 1996 were sent to the
Academy, Johnson's office said.

"We try to have the punishment fit the crime," said Hillsborough County
Attorney Peter McDonough. "The impression I think (the study) gives is that
not many people are going to jail for selling drugs. I respectfully
disagree. The defendants who should be going to jail are."

Tommasi initially had accused county attorneys and the Superior Court
system of "dropping the ball" and letting drug dealers get off easily. He
backed off the accusation Thursday, but said the incarceration rates are
still too low to deter drug dealers.

Tommasi said he does not think increasing the length or frequency of prison
time is the best way to beat drugs. Instead, he said, the state should
focus more on educational programs.