ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY DISCUSSES TRENDS IN TEXAS' CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

CLIFTON -- If you want to know how to make methamphetamines, ask Greg Gloff,
but if you produce and sell the stuff, be warned. Sooner or later, he'll
bust you because he's an Assistant United States Attorney of the Western
District of Texas-Waco Division.

On Thursday, June 5, Gloff spoke at Bosque County (Clifton) Rotary Club at
the Clifton Lutheran Sunset Home to briefly explain the Federal government's
legal system structure, the different types of cases he sees, and stories
about the criminals he has prosecuted.

As Gloff explained, Texas is divided into four districts with headquarters
in Dallas, Houston, Beaumont, and San Antonio. Employing 118 prosecutors who
file about 4,000 cases each year, the Western District covers 660 miles of
the Texas/Mexico border from El Paso County to Dimmit County, he said.

Working in an area that encompasses 13 counties with five other prosecutors
in the Waco Division, Gloff works on many different kinds of cases, but
enjoys the load.

"I love it because there's not a day that goes by when I don't have
something to do," said Gloff.

During his career, he has prosecuted various types of cases, from drug
trafficing to child pornography to arson, and has seen criminal trends come
and go.

One such trend he assured was over were the days of "Club Fed," when
white-collar convicted criminals stayed in prisons that were more like
country clubs.

"It's not very fun in prison," said Gloff. "There's no parole in the Federal
Court System. Criminals receive 12 days of good time at most."

Gloff said that his office is very aggressive in asset forfeiture, a method
of property seizure meant "to put a dent into the organizations' illegal
activities." For example, if a drug dealer was to launder money through an
apartment complex, the whole complex would be seized by the courts in order
stop the money flow.

Of the narcotics cases he sees each year, the number of marijuana cases had
dropped, which means that instead of driving through Waco Division,
trafficers are running around it.

Gloff noted that when a drug trafficking case is held, prosecuters use
confiscated photos the drug traffickers, or "banditos," took of themselves
with their illegal product in order to discredit the trafficker's testimony.

"This guy said, `I don't like it. It causes allergy problems,'" said Gloff,
before showing a picture of the dealer holding a handful of marijuana leaves
up to his nose. That dealer is now spending 30 years in jail.

Gloff added that bank robbery cases give his colleagues the most
entertainment, like the bank robber who dyed his hair orange to disguise
himself, only to be caught five minutes later. However, he said the violent
crimes are no laughing matter.

Gloff said he responds to critics who say that the huge drug busts don't
solve the overall drug problem with a story about a case called "Big Mama's
House."

"Big Mama" was the 69-year-old woman who allowed crack dealers from Dallas
to sell drugs from her house in Temple. After the trial, 10 people were
convicted with an average sentence of 10 years apiece; about $3.8 million of
crack cocaine was confiscated; and parks were reopened where the drug
dealers had once conducted their illegal business.

"It doesn't correct the nationwide problem, but it corrected those people
there," he said. "Every little thing makes a difference."

Due to the "Internet explosion," trafficking of black market steroids from
foreign countries and child pornography have risen steadily, but Gloff said
pipe bomb cases are his most common cases.

The most common drug cases in rural Texas, though, were those involving
methamphedines, he said. Gathering the ingredients from supermarket drug
stores and feed stores is easy, but the process by which to make the drug is
"extremely dangerous."

Gloff said that "The Nazi Method" of mixing the chemicals in clandestine
labs creates substantial risks of explosions, fires, chemical burns, and
toxic fume inhalation, but can be detected by the smell of rotten eggs or
battery acid when it cooks.

He said that meth-makers' jail time can be determined when crime labs
convert the hazardous waste produced that is produced after meth is made.

At the end of this presentation, Gloff told the audience to beware of
identity fraud by paying attention to any clerk who swipes credit cards
twice for any reason. Another protection is to review credit statements
regularly and closely.