NOTORIOUS PAIR FAIL TO AVERT DRUG TRIAL

Judge rips agents, but won't dismiss charges

A federal judge in Sacramento declined Tuesday to dismiss charges against
two notorious drug dealers, even though he concluded that state agents
engaged in "outrageous" conduct in an effort to target the men.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton said he was tempted to let the
dealers go free in an effort to deter "further governmental illegal
conduct," but decided it would be unwise to "reward" the defendants because
the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agents broke the law.

Under the circumstances, Karlton said, "a dismissal makes no sense."

"It appears to this court to be inappropriate to reward criminal
co-conspirators with a dismissal in order to deter the law enforcement
co-conspirators," he said. "Society was the victim of this conspiracy, and
dismissal would simply inflict further injury on society."

Defense lawyers said they would appeal Karlton's decision.

"If the ruling had come down in our favor, law enforcement agents across
the country would think twice" before putting large amounts of the key
ingredient to make methamphetamine on the streets, said Robert Wilson, who
represents one of the defendants.

"This decision tells them it's OK to pollute the public, if the end
justifies the means."

But prosecutor Nancy Simpson said the agents followed internal regulations
and performed the "reverse sting" operation with "a lot of consideration
and thought" about the public's welfare.

"There are a limited number of ways in which you, as a narcotics agent, can
effectively investigate these types of cases," she emphasized.

The case centers on the conduct of officers in a sting operation targeting
Michael and Erwin Spruth, described as two of the most prolific
methamphetamine manufacturers in Northern California. Each had two previous
convictions for drug manufacturing.

Defense lawyers argued during a hearing on the matter last month that the
agents put the men back in business after they got out of prison in 1995 by
supplying them with more than 100 pounds of ephedrine, the key ingredient
used to manufacture methamphetamine. The agents failed to track diligently
the chemicals, which ultimately were used to make "crank" that was sold on
the streets, according to the lawyers.

Agents said they did everything possible to track the chemicals while
homing in on a lab site operated by the Spruths. Simpson, the agents'
lawyer, argued that they followed the bureau's regulations, which allow
"precursors" such as ephedrine to be furnished to criminal suspects during
clandestine laboratory investigations.

Agents involved in the case received commendations for their handling of
the matter.

But Karlton said the agents showed disdain for their own rules, which were
designed to protect the public, because they were "bedazzled by the goal of
arresting these particular wrongdoers."

At a minimum, he said, they "aided and abetted" the making and selling of
methamphetamine.

"Given the fact that the agents received money rather than drugs," he said,
they could "be viewed as having conspired to manufacture and distribute
methamphetamine, both crimes."

But the defendants, he said, "were simply not victims."

"It follows that they do not enjoy standing to assert the government's
outrageous conduct as a defense," he concluded.

"The bottom line in this proceeding is that the irresponsible behavior of
these officers will have no consequences," the judge lamented. "It is the
height of naivete to believe that the court's expression of concern will
affect their conduct in any way. Nonetheless, under the circumstances, the
court sees no alternative."

Copyright ) 1998 The Sacramento Bee

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)