INFORMING PAYS OFF FOR DRUG DEALER

TAMPA - The judge says he is loath to reward a career criminal but gives a
cocaine dealer credit for his aid. He will serve 10 years.

Samuel Earl Jones, 29, walked into a federal courtroom Thursday knowing he
could spend the rest of his life in prison.

But the admitted cocaine dealer caught a break.

U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara sentenced Jones to 10 years after a
federal prosecutor asked that he receive credit for cooperating with
authorities.

Jones was one of several people arrested last year in a crackdown on a
cocaine distribution ring that authorities called the biggest and most
sophisticated in south St. Petersburg. The alleged kingpin of the group,
Elrick Bernard Wynn, remains a fugitive.

Jones, who had other drug convictions, pleaded guilty to one count of
conspiracy just before the case went to trial. In April, he testified
against seven co-defendants. Six were convicted.

Because Jones is a repeat criminal who was involved in moving major
quantities of drugs, federal sentencing guidelines required him to serve a
mandatory life sentence. But the law allows judges to depart from the
guidelines if a prosecutor requests leniency.

Jones' cooperation was substantial in "scope, detail and significance,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Ruddy said Thursday. Jones also helped agents
recover 2 kilograms of cocaine in Georgia and was willing to take the stand
against another defendant, who later pleaded guilty.

Lazzara told Jones he often is concerned about rewarding informants, because
so many of them have extensive histories of wrongdoing. Jones was able to
testify as a valuable government witness, the judge said, because he spent
years "peddling his poison on the streets of south St. Petersburg."

Lazzara added, however, that he realizes law enforcement agencies have to
rely upon informants. "I guess it is just a fact of life that we have to
deal with people like Mr. Jones," he said.

Sarah Huntley covers federal courts and can be reached at (813) 259-7616.