FOR DRUG DEALER, NO ESCAPING 240 YEARS IN PRISON

To say Luis "Danny" Cruz was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday would be
to understate the case. Really understate it. Cruz, 21, was handed a prison
sentence of 240 years by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, who told
the young drug seller from Buffalo's West Side that he had no choice in the
matter.

And then Arcara, again required by federal sentencing guidelines, told Cruz
that he was also being sentenced to eight years of supervised release.

In other words, after he would finish his 240 years in prison - and there
is no parole and little good time off in the federal system - Cruz still
would face eight years of probation.

"It's contrary to any notion of having the punishment fit the crime,"
defense attorney John J. Lavin said after the sentencing. "It's as
draconian as it gets."

Federal prosecutors say Cruz might have set a record for the longest
sentence ever received in U.S. District Court under uniform sentencing
guidelines developed by a presidential commission.

Cruz was arrested by narcotics agents from the Erie County Sheriff's
Department originally for selling an amount of cocaine that a defense
attorney said would barely fill half a coffee cup.

But after he was convicted in November 1998 on six felony narcotics
charges, a federal probation officer applied the guidelines and said Cruz
should spend the rest of his life in prison.

Arcara, clearly troubled by the prospect, held a series of hearings
throughout the year but told Cruz on Wednesday that he had no discretion.

"It is difficult for a judge to do," Arcara told the slightly built Cruz,
who was wearing prison khakis. "But this is the law of the United States.
It is my duty as a judge to impose this (sentence).

Cruz wrote a letter to the court in which he told of a troubled childhood,
of how he and his brother would pick through garbage for bottles so they
could pool their money and buy toys at the Salvation Army store.

A number of Sheriff's Department narcotics officers were in court,
including their commander, Lt. Thomas P. Flaherty.

"I think he's looking for sympathy, but we feel he's a violent person,"
Flaherty said. "He's a manipulator; he's a user of people; he's a danger to
our society."

Testimony during the sentencing hearings showed that Cruz had sold 2.4
pounds of crack and powdered cocaine on the West Side, although Assistant
U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Duszkiewicz argued that Cruz had sold about twice
that amount.

Cruz's sentence also went up under the guidelines because he sold drugs
near two public schools, carried a firearm, used a 17-year-old girlfriend
to stash his drugs, sold crack cocaine and has a felony record.

Lavin said he intends to appeal the conviction and the sentence.