DA'S OFFICE HAS SPECIAL FEDERAL PROSECUTOR

Assistant DA Cross-Designated To Go After Drug Offenders

Big-time drug dealers in New Hanover and Pender counties could be
looking at stiffer prison sentences in the near future, now that the
District Attorney's Office has a special prosecutor working out of
the federal courthouse.

The practice is already a success in the 13th Prosecutorial District
that includes Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen counties.

Assistant District Attorney Tim Severo, who previously prosecuted
drug cases in New Hanover County Superior Court, has already been
sworn in and cross-designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.

"You always hear about the war on drugs. This is the war on drug
dealers. We're going to go after drug dealers in Wilmington in a way
you've never heard before," Severo said.

District Attorney Ben David said the special prosecutor position will
benefit the community in other ways. It should cut back on the number
of inmates awaiting trial in the New Hanover and Pender county jails
and provide a federal prosecutor based in Wilmington.

"We don't have a single federal prosecutor living here. The closest
federal prosecutor lives in Raleigh," David said. "Decisions are
being made by somebody who doesn't live in this community."

Severo, who has 12 years of experience as a prosecutor, "will
identify the worst of the worst and give them maximum time," David
said. "There are federal laws that are stronger that we can utilize
that are really going untapped right now. We can use the federal
system to maximum benefit."

Severo and David said the vast majority of murders and other violent
crimes committed locally are drug-related.

"Drugs fuel the engine of violent crime, so we are making drug
traffickers and drug dealers our priority," David said.

To replace Severo, a new prosecutor should be added to David's staff
by Oct. 1. The new position is made possible by a $90,000 state grant
and an additional $30,000 recently allocated by the New Hanover
County Board of Commissioners. While requesting funding at a recent
commissioners meeting, David said a special prosecutor should process
drug-related cases in a more timely fashion, thus reducing the jail population.

The jail's inmate count stood Friday at 533 and has been as high as
560 recently, "which puts us in a panic situation," Chief Deputy Tom
Parker said.

Parker backs the concept of a special prosecutor.

"We fully support it. Just like any prosecutorial organization, the
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District (of North Carolina)
has limited resources. We would probably like to see more of our
cases prosecuted in federal court, but so would all of the agencies
in the Eastern District," Parker said.

He said continued delays in evidence processing at the State Bureau
of Investigation laboratory mean longer jail stays for some defendants.

"We still have the problem getting the evidence analyzed at the SBI
lab in Raleigh, and it kind of ties the prosecutors' hands," Parker
said. "If Tim Severo is working the drug cases, it always helps to
have a dedicated prosecutor."

Lack of coordination between the District Attorney's Office, the
arresting law enforcement agency and the defense lawyer can result in
a prolonged stay in the county jail, Parker said.

"If we can get everybody reading that same sheet of music, then we
can get the people out sooner," he said.

Chris Thomas, an assistant district attorney in the 13th District,
has been a cross-designated federal prosecutor for about three years.
Like Severo, he can take felony drug cases and prosecute them
anywhere within the Eastern District, depending on the availability
of a federal judge.

"It's worked incredibly well," Thomas said. He cited "Operation
Chicken Foot," a multi-agency investigation that resulted in the
seizure of 240 kilos of cocaine and $6.8 million in cash. With the
assistance of the SBI, federal Drug Enforcement Administration,
Bladen County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Attorney's Office and other
agencies, Thomas helped secure lengthy federal prison terms for 43
defendants, including 20 from Bladen County. Some are serving life
sentences with no possibility of parole.

"It allows (District Attorney) Rex Gore's office, through me, to
interact with federal authorities much more quickly and target larger
offenders," Thomas said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Evenson is lead prosecutor of the
Organized Crime-Drug Enforcement Task Force in the Eastern District.

"Working with the local prosecutors is the key to fighting the war on
drugs and drug traffickers," Evenson said. "I think this is going to
lead to the conviction of more drug traffickers at the upper levels
who are bringing drugs in and selling drugs in the Wilmington and New
Hanover County area.

"If I was a drug trafficker, in light of this, I wouldn't want to be
bringing drugs into this area," he said.

Federal statutes are often tougher than state law on dealers with a
prior record or who possess large quantities of drugs. Special
prosecutors can employ investigative tools they couldn't use on a
state level, Evenson said.

"What you'll have is the benefit of federal conspiracy laws," he
said. "I think it's good for both offices because the ultimate goal
is to investigate, prosecute and convict the drug traffickers in the
community."

Just because a drug case is prosecuted federally does not
automatically mean it is fast-tracked, Wilmington criminal defense
lawyer Geoffrey Hosford said.

"It doesn't necessarily relate to faster prosecution. If somebody is
charged in state court and they are going to adopt the case, it is a
lengthier process. That review process can sometimes take a while,"
Hosford said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh will continue to have the final
say on all federal cases heard in the Eastern District, Hosford said.

"They appear to be fairly selective in the cases they choose for
prosecution," he said. "A local prosecutor will know more about the
local crime scene, but I'm not so sure it will result in an increase
of cases being prosecuted. I thought this was an ingenious program
for the feds. They are not having to take someone on as a staff
attorney, but they're increasing their workload."

Severo is confident his cross-designation as a federal prosecutor
will have a telling effect on local drug dealers.

"Even though it's a state problem, this gives us a federal way to
approach it. What we hope to have is greater access and faster access
to the federal system and use their tools in a more pointed way," he said.