POLICE USING FEDERAL SENTENCES TO HELP SLOW VIOLENCE

From Sunset Park in Rock Island and Fejervary Park in Davenport,
from bars, a convenience store and four houses in three cities, they
dealt crack cocaine, police said.

Five men - siblings George and Soevier "Nose" Granderson, Bruce Pugh,
Lee Govain and Russell Cowan - all now face heavy federal prison
sentences for their drug dealing in Rock Island, Davenport and East Moline.

None was a stranger to police. At least two of them dealt for a decade or more.

The case is just one of 82 from Rock Island involving repeat-offender
drug dealers or gun-toters prosecuted in federal court since 2006.
Davenport police say at least 150 of their cases since 2005 resulted
in federal convictions. Dozens more are pending or under investigation.

Both city police departments have specific and increasing efforts to
get criminals off the street for a long time.

In the federal system, convicts not only get longer sentences, they
serve at least 85 percent of their time.

Meanwhile, the word is getting around to repeat offenders that their
crimes could result in a federal sentence, said Rick Voy, a Davenport
detective who is assigned to the area's federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, task force.

"People who get caught will make remarks to us about their crimes
going federal," Voy said. "They'll ask us, 'Will I see federal
court?' . Word's getting around."

The roller coaster

It's not the first time authorities have used the tactic to quash street crime.

When violence by Quad-City street gangs escalated in the early and
mid-1990s, local police and prosecutors targeted the leaders of the
gangs. A new federal presence in the Quad-Cities - which is uniquely
home to two federal courthouses, one in Rock Island and one in
Davenport - meant those gang leaders went away for a long time.

Without their leadership, the gangs weakened and disbanded.

Violent crime in Rock Island dropped from a two-decade high of 524
offenses in 1995, to a two-decade low of 347 in 2000.

But the numbers started creeping up again. The number of violent
crimes recorded in 2007 hit 441.

In response, Rock Island, Davenport and other agencies turned to the
federal courts again, this time targeting repeat offenders they say
commit a significant number of the violent crimes.

The number of violent offenses dropped to 394 last year in Rock
Island, police say.

"You take a chunk out of the (criminal) population, and the crime
rate is down," Rock Island police detective Gene Karzin said. Karzin
is assigned to the ATF office in the Quad-Cities, launched in 2005,
along with Davenport's Voy.

After an arrest is made, investigators talk with county and federal
prosecutors to determine where a criminal will receive the greatest
sentence, Voy said.

The collaboration is vital, said Sgt. Kevin Smull of the tactical
operations bureau of the Davenport Police Department.

"Our common goal is arresting bad guys and getting them off the
street," Smull said.

Jeff Lang, acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois,
said his office makes prosecuting gun and drug crimes a priority.

"When violent felons and drug dealers and robbers use a firearm, the
chance of violence is significantly higher than when they don't use a
gun," Lang said.

Mike Bladel, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern
District of Iowa, said that "in the Davenport area, there is an
extraordinary history of cooperation ... enhancing a federal
prosecution presence since the mid-1990s."

The federal presence is one that "continues to be supported and
sustained. It does appear to have a substantial impact on the area."

The rising tide

Chuck Beason will spend the rest of his life behind bars for dealing
crack cocaine. His brother, Robert Beason, is in prison on a 20-year
sentence on the same charge. Tyland Beason, a younger relative, got
seven years in prison.

They were among seven people from Rock Island cases to be convicted
in federal court in 2006 for trafficking drugs or firearms charges.
The sentences totalled 75 years, along with Chuck Beason's life sentence.

In 2007, 18 drug and firearms cases from Rock Island went federal,
including a case against eight members of the Lee family. The Lees
dealt drugs out of family matriarch Jeffie Lee's Rock Island home for
several years.

Kash Lee received a life sentence. The rest of the family tallied a
total of more than 70 years in prison.

The remaining 10 cases that year produced more than 104 years in
prison and one life sentence.

In 2008, 38 Rock Island cases moved to federal court, including the
Grandersons' case. Those generated 168 years in prison sentences and
three life sentences. Ten cases from that year remain pending.

In 2009, 43 such cases were prosecuted in federal court. Eighteen
cases are pending. Those resolved resulted in 45 years worth of
prison sentences and one life sentence.

Five cases, each still pending, have been filed this year.

Meanwhile, in Davenport, a federal judge has sent 85 drug defendants
to prison since the summer of 2007. Fifty-one await sentencing or are
under investigation.

Since 2005, 66 gun cases earned federal convictions, with 27 under
investigation.

"We like going federal" because of truth-in-sentencing, said Capt.
David Struckman, commander of the criminal investigation division for
Davenport. "It's not 15 years, out in three."

Seizures

Criminal charges and lengthy prison sentences aren't the only way for
police and prosecutors to deter crime.

The Rock Island County State's Attorney's office, like many other
agencies, pursues drug dealers' possessions through civil
proceedings. They've used the courts to seize money, vehicles and houses.

Norma Kauzlarich, assistant Rock Island County State's Attorney,
recalls one case in which a man suspected of dealing drugs fled to
Mexico, never to be seen locally again after learning authorities
moved to seize his possessions. He left behind a brand new car.

"He left within a day," Kauzlarich said. "He was scared."

Rock Island received $420,000 in 2009 from a total of $632,430 worth
of property seizures.

The money is used in the city's narcotics budget for car rentals,
cell phones, informant money and televisions for training. Officers
use some of the automobiles they seize for undercover work or
unmarked surveillance, Rock Island Police Chief John Wright said.

"It's been a windfall for us," the chief said, adding the money
cannot be used for officer salaries.

The advantage to a civil filing is that the state doesn't have to
provide as much evidence or proof as it would to secure a criminal
conviction, Kauzlarich said. If they can show the individuals are
involved with dealing drugs and the items seized were instrumental in
those deals, that is enough to take the property.

Most dealers consider property loss part of the business, but some
take exception to it and aren't afraid to voice their frustration to
Kauzlarich.

"People are more upset that I'm taking their stuff than they are that
they might be facing felony charges," she said. "You would think they
would be a little concerned that they are a blip on somebody's radar."

One of the most high-profile seizures by the county and federal
courts occurred in 2007. The city took ownership of the Lee family's
home at 705 9th Ave. and demolished it last fall.

Guns, pot and crack

Late one Saturday night in November, members of Davenport's tactical
operations bureau pounded on the doors of two apartments.

Inside them, they found enough crack cocaine, marijuana and loaded
guns to send six people to prison for years to come. One of the guns
was an AK-47.

Lekeebrion Diquion Jackson, Deon Donta Smith, Alvin Lee Cooper, Irvin
Joy Cooper, Lovell Jonathan Flowers and Amie Henderson-Cooper are all
charged now in federal court with drug and gun charges.

Federal authorities are requesting forfeiture of the four guns and
more than $27,000 in cash.

Like the case involving the Grandersons from Rock Island, two of the
defendants are siblings. All are in custody. Their trial is set for June.

Brian Wellner contributed to this report.