WILL DRUG LORD DO LESS TIME THAT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN NONVIOLENT DRUG OFFENDER?

The U.S. government recently praised the arrest of Colombia's top
drug lord Diego Montoya when he was captured earlier this month. Law
enforcement and military officials say it was a powerful blow to
Colombia's most powerful drug cartel, comparing it to the capture of
Al Capone during Prohibition.

Montoya, who had been on the FBI's top ten most wanted list, is said
to be responsible for providing as much as 70 percent of all the
cocaine in the United States. In 1999, a $5 million bounty for his
capture and extradition was offered after he was indicted in a
federal court in Miami.

There is much talk about how this capture will affect the drug trade
and the flow of drugs into the United States. But the question on my
mind is how much time will he serve when he is brought to the United
States to stand trial for the death and destruction he has caused? I
would be willing to bet that he will get less time than many
Americans who are now serving extraordinarily long sentences, many
for low-level, nonviolent drug law violations under the notorious
mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Some would ask how would I come
to this conclusion.

If you look at the recently completed federal sentence of former
Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who served a 17-year federal
sentence for drug trafficking, it might give you a hint what is in
store for Montoya. In Noriega's case the U.S. attorney negotiated
deals with 26 high-level drug dealers, including drug lord Carlos
Lehder. They in turn received a package of perks that included
leniency and cash payments, and were allowed to keep their drug
earnings in return for testimony against the infamous general who was
once a strong United States ally before he fell from grace in 1989,
when the U.S. invaded Panama.

There are many Americans in prison that are serving sentences of more
than 17 years in prison for simple drug crimes. These are
marginalized offenders that don't have the bargaining chips to
establish deals. For example, Elaine Bartlett, a mother of four,
served a 20-to-life sentence under the Rockefeller Drug Laws for
seven ounces of cocaine. Her husband, Nathan Brooks, was sentenced
to 25 years to life. The list goes on and on. There are an estimated
500,000 Americans locked up because of the drug war. Many of them are
serving lengthy sentences because of a 30-year government campaign to
demonize illicit drug use and implement mandatory minimum sentencing.

In 1986, mandatory minimum sentencing laws were enacted by Congress,
which compelled judges to deliver fixed sentences to individuals
convicted of certain crimes, regardless of mitigating factors or
culpability. Federal mandatory drug sentences are determined based
on three factors: the type of drug, weight of the drug mixture (or
alleged weight in conspiracy cases), and the number of prior
convictions. Judges are unable to consider other important factors,
such as the offender's role, motivation and the likelihood of recidivism.

The push to incarcerate drug offenders has been further exacerbated
through the current federal sentencing law that punishes crack
cocaine offenders much more severely than offenders possessing other
types of drugs, for example, powder cocaine. Distributing just five
grams of crack carries a minimum five-year federal prison sentence
while distributing 500 grams of powder cocaine carries the same
sentence. This 100:1 sentencing disparity has been almost universally
criticized for its racially discriminatory impact by a wide variety
of criminal justice and civil rights groups, and in
Congress. Although whites and Hispanics form the majority of crack
users, the vast majority of those convicted for crack cocaine
offenses are African Americans.

Because of the war on drugs, which mandates mandatory minimum
sentencing, average drug offenders are routinely elevated to kingpin
status and condemned to serve out long prison sentences that should
be reserved only for actual drug kingpins, not individuals that are
fabricated to that level. It's time to end these draconian laws and
implement a sentencing structure that promotes fairness and justice.