DEFENDANTS' MOMS CRITICAL OF RAID THAT POLICE SAY MADE STREETS SAFER

For months, tenants at Lincoln Fields Apartments implored police and
county leaders to do something to halt the rampant drug selling around
their homes. Dealers left behind too many abandoned cars that
attracted derelicts, and children were afraid to walk past them on
their way to school.

Help finally came in the predawn hours of June 24. Dozens of
Miami-Dade police officers fanned out across the Liberty City
apartment complex and rounded up more than two dozen men, most of whom
lived there.

The sweep netted 28 arrests and most were charged with racketeering
and conspiracy, which carry stiff sentences. Miami-Dade police
officials said the arrests were the culmination of an eight-month
undercover investigation.

As a result, they said, a small but violent drug gang was off the
streets. ''The children can play outside, and the people in the
community can walk down the sidewalk and do other things,'' said
Miami- Dade Police Maj. Tyrone White, head of the district that
includes Lincoln Fields. Since the raid, he said, police calls to the
apartment complex have dropped.

But no one at the 214-unit complex is cheering the raid -- at least
not openly. Those who complained about the drug problem are mostly
mute, afraid of reprisals if they say anything publicly.

One tenant, who did not want her name used, said life at Lincoln
Fields has improved. ''It's better,'' she said, before hurrying to awaiting
car.

LOTS OF COMPLAINTS

The raid also has provoked a chorus of complaints from mothers of the
defendants. They have organized a group called Mothers of the Same
Kind, a female counterpart of sorts to Brothers of the Same Mind, a
group of ex-felons that frequently criticizes the police.

In the last month, the mothers have held several meetings and have
passed out fliers in Liberty City to call attention to what they
believe is overzealous and unfair law enforcement. The women say
arrests should have been made at the time of the alleged sales -- not
months afterward. The delay, they add, casts doubt on whether police
apprehended the right suspects.

''We wanted to get rid of the drugs, but I don't like how it was
done,'' said Carol Gaines, president of the Lincoln Field tenant
council and group member, whose son is being sought in connection with
the undercover investigation.

A year ago Gaines met with police and county officials about ways to
reduce crime. The raid was not what she had in mind. ''I don't agree
with the charges they're trying to put on these young men,'' she said.

The women claim the men are not gang members, but are lifelong friends
lumped together and falsely accused. ''I'm not saying all of them are
angels, but a lot of them were not involved,'' said Roagene Thorpe,
the group's president.

But authorities claim that those charged are part of the Lincoln
Fields Gangsters and collectively have 301 arrests and 181
convictions, ranging from drug possession and sales to assault,
burglary and theft.

Twenty suspects have been charged with racketeering or conspiracy and
face sentences of up to several hundred years. Two teenagers were
charged as juveniles, and five more men are still being sought.

Undercover narcotics officers purchased small amounts of cocaine and
marijuana from two separate locations at Lincoln Fields over an eight-
month period.

Court documents indicate that the baggies holding the drugs often had
similar striped marks. Prosecutors say the men often sold marijuana
and cocaine in teams, and that several of them had tattoos with
''LF,'' ''Lincoln Field'' or ''Field Mob'' on their arms -- which they
and police say shows gang involvement.

Those sales, prosecutors say, show that the drug sales were being
carried out in an organized fashion.

VIOLENCE BREWING

''These people were conspiring to do things on an organized level,''
said Michael Grieco, an assistant state attorney. ``When you have
areas like Lincoln Fields and they're running two different drug
holes, that can lead to future violence. The entire complex was involved.''

The mothers group says police contributed to the problem by allowing
drug sales to go unchecked for eight months.

''Police allowed those sales to happen,'' Thorpe said. But prosecutors
say targeting the entire alleged gang is a more effective strategy
than nabbing individual members.

As the case against the defendants winds its way through the legal
system, the women have become a fixture at the Richard E. Gerstein
court building.

Last Thursday, Thorpe and about 26 group members returned to county
courthouse to see their relatives.

WAITING FOR SON

Bernay Jackson sat in Courtroom 6-1, waiting for her 19-year-old son
Antwan Jackson, who was charged with three counts of selling cocaine
or marijuana within 1,000 feet of a church. She took a day off from
her job as housekeeping supervisor so she could attend. She was hoping
to get his $25,000 bond reduced so she could take him home.

When Antwan's turn came, Judge Manny Crespo listened to arguments by
opposing attorneys for and against bail reduction. Jackson offered her
own impassioned plea.

''Just because he's young and got in trouble at a young age doesn't
mean he's a threat,'' the mother told the judge. ``I'm a single parent
trying to take care of five children and I'm struggling.''

In the end, Crespo said no, citing Antwan's charges and his juvenile
record. Jackson gathered her things and headed out with her attorney.

''I've been praying a lot,'' she said. ``Lord open these doors and let
my son out.