COCAINE SENTENCING REVIEW SET

The Oklahoma Sentencing Commission decided Thursday to conduct a yearlong
study of sentencing for crack and powder cocaine convictions in Oklahoma.

The study could result in the board making a recommendation to the Legislature.

Possession of 28 grams or more of powder cocaine is considered trafficking,
but the trafficking threshold for crack cocaine is only 5 grams. Board
members discussed whether the threshold should be the same for both forms
of the drug.

In 2003, 27 people were sentenced for trafficking cocaine, and 22 were
sentenced for trafficking crack, according to the Oklahoma Criminal Justice
Resource Center.

In other business, the commission decided to recommend to the Legislature
that the crime of making false statements to a pawn broker should be a
misdemeanor rather than a felony if the property involved is unrelated to a
robbery or burglary and worth less than $500.

In 2003, 142 people were convicted of making false statements to pawn
brokers, and 26 were sentenced to prison, according to the Oklahoma
Criminal Justice Resource Center. The crime is punishable by up to five
years in prison.

Commission Member Robert Ravitz, chief public defender for Oklahoma County,
said it doesn't make sense to give long-term prison sentences to small-time
criminals, such as shoplifters, who pawn the merchandise.

"That's a horrible use of taxpayer dollars," he said.