GILMORE SEEKS CRACKDOWN ON DRUG KINGPINS

RICHMOND, Sept. 20--Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) called today for an
overhaul of Virginia's drug laws, targeting "kingpins" with $10,000
bounties, mandatory prison sentences and a new state police division to
eradicate illegal narcotics.

"I say this to the kingpins out there: If you make money off of crack,
cocaine [or] heroin, we're going to put a price on your head," Gilmore said
at a Capitol news conference. "We're going to find you, arrest you,
prosecute you and put you in prison for the rest of your life."

Gilmore announced the Substance Abuse Reduction Effort, or Sabre, six weeks
before voters decide the balance of power in an evenly divided General
Assembly, and some legislative and local candidates said his comprehensive
program would help their campaigns on a range of anti-crime issues.

At the same time, even Gilmore's ardent allies predicted tough going for
Sabre when lawmakers return to Richmond in January.

"You're going to have a lot of opposition in the legislature," said Del.
John H. "Jack" Rust Jr. (R-Fairfax), a lawyer who sits on a key House
committee that has long been skeptical of the kind of mandatory jail terms
Gilmore is proposing.

Opponents of such measures argue that judges ought to have broad discretion
in deciding what sentences to impose, allowing them to take evidence and
trial arguments into full account.

Gilmore noted that drug use in Virginia has climbed while violent crime has
declined, and he proposed lowering the threshold definition of a "kingpin"
to make it possible to obtain mandatory life sentences in cases involving
2.2 pounds of heroin, instead of 100 pounds, and 22 pounds of cocaine,
instead of 500.

Meanwhile, Democrats sought again today to claim a piece of the public
safety debate by reiterating their opposition to three provisions in
Virginia law that they said allow guns to be taken onto school property.

The Democrats, led by Del. Linda T. "Toddy" Puller and Leslie L. Byrne, both
running for state Senate seats in Fairfax County, criticized Gilmore and
several Northern Virginia Republicans for their unsuccessful attempt this
year to allow students who hunt to keep guns in their cars in school parking
lots.

Other key features of Gilmore's new Sabre proposal include:

* Bounties of as much as $10,000 for information leading to arrests and
convictions for selling drugs to children, dealing large quantities of drugs
or operating methamphetamine labs.

* Mandatory prison terms of 20 years to life for dealers who possess illegal
drugs in the same amounts that would be outlined in the revised kingpin
statutes.

* A new, 210-member state police division to serve as a rapid-response team
to help sheriffs, police departments and grand juries on drug cases.

Gilmore also proposed mandatory testing, treatment and extensive community
service for first-time drug offenders and those being released from prison.
In all, Sabre would cost $60 million over a two-year budget cycle if enacted
by the legislature.

Gilmore, a former county prosecutor in suburban Richmond, and his aides
drafted Sabre over the last two months. They said that while there may be
relatively few kingpins in the state--perhaps 100 of them over the next
decade--they should be taken off Virginia streets.

Gilmore also told reporters that there was nothing accidental about the
timing of his announcement, less than two months before the Nov. 2 election,
"so people running for office can comment," he said.

The governor was starkly partisan, pronouncing the Clinton administration's
efforts against drugs "disgraceful and damaging," and calling Sabre a
"tough, but smart, Republican answer" to the drug threat.