HATCH ROLE IN HELPING MAN AVOID DRUG TERM HITS A NERVE

Out Of Sync The Senator's Involved In Pulling A Music Producer From A
Dubai Jail

WASHINGTON - Sen. Orrin Hatch is standing firm on his decision to
help a famed R&B music producer out of a four-year jail sentence for
possession of cocaine in the United Arab Emirates.

But Hatch's actions have raised questions with some Utahns, who
wonder why the conservative Republican lent his influence to someone
convicted in an illegal drug case.

Hatch made several phone calls to the United Arab Emirates' consul in
Washington on behalf of Grammy Award-winning producer Dallas Austin,
who was arrested May 19 and pleaded guilty to possession of 1.26
grams of cocaine. Drug possession is a serious crime in the Persian
Gulf emirates, and Austin could have faced more than a decade in
prison for simple possession.

Hatch said he made the calls out of his long-standing angst with
mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, which require judges to
issue sentences without taking into account a person's past history
or specific circumstances.

But the senator's involvement also was due to a web of contacts Hatch
has in the law firm that assisted Austin in the case, which
represents him as the producer of songs for artists such as Madonna,
Michael Jackson and TLC, and which also represents Hatch in his
efforts as a songwriter and singer.

Hatch was asked to intercede in the case by a former staffer, Nancy
Taylor, who served 10 years with the senator and now is a shareholder
with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Greenberg Traurig. Another
attorney in the firm, Joel Katz, represents both Austin and Hatch in
their musical endeavors. Katz and attorney Joe Reeder, with the
Washington office of the same firm, spent 10 days in Dubai working to
secure Austin's release, according to The New York Times.

Taylor said Monday that she asked Hatch to intervene because "he is a
very humanitarian person." She noted that Austin already had served
two months in jail before returning to the United States on Wednesday
and that it is not uncommon for the United Arab Emirates to deport
foreigners instead of jailing them for years.

"In its decision, the U.A.E. stated that these type of releases often
occur when the only victim is the accused," the law firm said in a statement.

Taylor also denied that the involvement had anything to do with
Hatch's association with the other division of Greenberg Traurig.
Hatch made nearly $40,000 last year in music royalties.

Hatch's office declined Monday to make the senator available for an
interview. But it issued a statement last weekend saying the senator
had "good relations with the ambassador and other good people in
U.A.E. and is confident that this talented young man will learn from
this experience."

Utah defense attorney Ron Yengich said that while Hatch should have
gotten involved in the case, it may be unfair to others caught for
simple drug possession who don't know people in high government positions.

"I go to court with those very same people every day, and the judges
tell me Congress says we have to put you in prison, even for small
amounts of drugs," Yengich said. "I wish that Senator Hatch and the
Congress of the United States would understand this guy isn't the
exception, he is the rule."

Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, said he was unsure why Hatch would take
such actions for someone who pleaded guilty to drug possession.

"That does seem a little strange to me," Bramble said. "I don't have
much tolerance for illegal drug users. I probably would not have done
what Senator Hatch did."

Hatch's opponent in his bid for re-election, Democrat Pete Ashdown,
was even more critical. On his campaign blog, Ashdown sneered that he
did not understand why Hatch could not help an undocumented immigrant
who made his home in Utah for 16 years remain in the United States,
but could assist a Hollywood producer facing a prison sentence for
drug possession.

"Evidently if you're a rich music producer with a penchant for
cocaine and you're dumb enough to bring it into Dubai, then Utah's
senior senator will pull your ass out of the fire," Ashdown wrote.

The Drug Enforcement Agency confirmed that federal prosecutions for
about a gram of cocaine are rarely, if ever, pursued, though the
crime is a felony under federal law. Under Utah law, possession of
cocaine in any amount is a third-degree felony, though about a gram
of the illegal substance would probably earn the possessor probation
and not a prison sentence.

Austin entered the United Arab Emirates to attend a birthday
celebration for supermodel Naomi Campbell, the Times said.