FEDERAL COURTS BOGGED DOWN IN METHAMPHETAMINE CASES

The powder looks like talc or cocaine, but it's smoother than the
first and more powerful than the second.

In Middle Tennessee, the drug is clogging up the federal law
enforcement system, from the agents who hunt those who make it to the
judges who put away those who abuse it.

"It's going like gangbusters," Vince Morgano, assistant special agent
in charge of Tennessee for the Drug Enforcement Agency, said of
methamphetamine or meth, known on the street as crank.

"We are just getting flooded. The U.S. attorneys are swamped and the
judges are swamped," Morgano said.

And because criminal cases take precedence over civil cases in federal
court, the impact of the many drug cases is further magnified.

"It means civil cases scheduled for trial have to get bumped by
criminal cases under the speedy trial rule," said U.S. District Court
Judge Todd J. Campbell. "Because those cases have to come first, their
presence seems larger."

Drug cases also carry more baggage, Campbell said. Firearms or money
laundering charges often accompany the contraband charge, "so they
take a considerable amount of time."

And time is precious.

Wendy Goggin, acting U.S. attorney for Middle Tennessee, said the 18
lawyers in her office spend nearly 40% of their time investigating and
prosecuting drug cases, most of which involve meth. The rest of their
time is spent prosecuting fraud, firearm offenses and other felonies.

Because of the volume, Goggin said, her office must choose which drug
cases to pursue in federal court, where fines and prison sentences
are typically tougher than in the state system.

Morgano said he would like more cases to be heard in federal court,
but because of the backlog he is forced to hand over many cases to the
state system.

"They are not going free. They are prosecuted under the state system.
However, they are not getting anywhere near the same amount of time in
jail in the state system as they would in the federal," Morgano said.

Drug offenses can be filed in both courts, but the larger cases those
involving massive amounts of drugs, interstate traffic, conspiracy and
money laundering often become federal cases because of the harsher
penalties.

Despite the federal backlog, Morgano shows no signs of backing off.
His office is growing almost as much as the drug problem.

"In 1990, when I came here, this was still a medium-sized city with a
medium-sized drug problem," Morgano said. Today, it's the sprawling
home to a major league crank habit.

When Morgano came to Nashville, his office occupied a handful of rooms
and employed four agents.

Today, DEA offices cover much of the fifth floor of the federal
courthouse on Broadway. The agency, whose sole charge is to eradicate
illegal drugs, now employs eight agents and 10 police officers
deputized as agents. Four more agents have been budgeted for 2000.

It's still not enough.

To keep up with the drugs, Morgano said, he would need another 15
agents and the court would need more prosecutors and judges.

The DEA could already occupy Goggin's 18 assistant attorneys and the
six district court judges full time through drug arrests, he said.

With three major interstates dissecting it, an airport and plenty of
rural land to hide in, Nashville is the perfect halfway point for all
points east.

"This is like a pony express stop. All money and drugs stop here,"
Morgano said.

DEA arrests have increased from 77 in 1995 to 172 last year. So far
this year, 104 people have been arrested by DEA agents on drug charges.

Meth busts have more than tripled. Two years ago, the DEA busted 12
meth labs. Last year it hit 41. This year, 55 have been targeted.

Other agencies are also feeling the strain of the increase in drug
cases.

The IRS, which primarily chases tax offenders, also investigates drug
cases because of the large amounts of money involved.

The agency spends about 20% of its time investigating money laundering
and other financial felonies associated with drugs, said Anthony A.
Cesare, chief of the agency's Criminal Investigation Division for the
Kentucky- Tennessee district.

Like the U.S. attorneys, the IRS must pick and choose its cases and
manage how much time is spent on drug cases.

If it had more agents more drug cases would be initiated, Cesare
said.

Morgano said the cases he was sending through the federal system were
major cases, often involving many people, large amounts of drugs and
money.

More such cases are coming, he warned.

In next few years, he said expected three of every four cases his
office handled to involve methamphetamine, up from half of their cases
today.

There are signs Morgano will be proved correct.

Two major meth busts in Tennessee in the past six months signal to
Morgano that the state could be facing a turf war between the local
meth labs and those shipping the drug from South America.

All he can do to stop it is lock people up and file as many charges as
he can in federal court, he said.

"But the assistant U.S. attorneys have limited resources," he said.
"And there are only so many judges here to do my cases."