PARTNERS IN CRIME

The Long Arm of the Conspiracy Law Can Reach Many Places

Korrie Schauer's attorney swore she'd never sold methamphetamine -
not even as little as a gram.

She used the powerfully addictive drug and drove a car for a
drug-dealing boyfriend who didn't have a drivers license, Tim Cavan
told U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom at Schauer's 2000 sentencing
hearing. But she didn't deal.

It didn't matter. She was behind the wheel trying to elude police when
her boyfriend, James Gunderson, now 40, tossed a gun and more than a
pound of meth out of the car. A search of the house they shared on
Cook Avenue turned up another 316.7 grams in Gunderson's room.

Gunderson took responsibility for all the drugs. That didn't matter
either. Schauer, 31, knew what was going on and she helped. The result
- - a minimum mandatory five-year sentence for possession of
methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

There are so many ways to get in big trouble, and they don't all
involve getting caught red-handed in a dope deal. Federal law gives
prosecutors a huge set of tools aimed at attacking illegal drug
trafficking from bottom to top.

Whether those tools have produced the intended result is a matter of
debate. But the risks are real for anyone associated with drugs, even
in a small way.

According to Montana U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer, Department of Justice
policies call for prosecutors to charge the most serious readily
provable offense.

The intent of the law is "to exact harsh sentences and improve public
safety," he said.

Billings defense attorney Penny Strong, who often must explain complex
crimes and their penalties to shocked clients, sees things a little
differently.

"The U.S. attorney's office has taken a hard line on methamphetamine
and cocaine, as they should," said Strong, who was recently named
Yellowstone County chief public defender. "But it means that people
who deserve a break don't get one."

A conspiracy indictment can be one of the nastiest hits.

Federal conspiracy laws are broad enough to ensnare everyone
affiliated with a drug ring - from the manufacturer to the addict who
sells just enough to support a growing habit.

Conspiracies are agreements between two or more people to do something
unlawful. To be a member of the conspiracy, all a suspect has to do is
know the conspiracy's intent and intend to help accomplish it.

It doesn't matter if the crime at the heart of the conspiracy was ever
actually committed. And no formal agreement is required. It could just
be a general plan to sell drugs. The details don't have to be spelled
out, and the conspirators don't even have to know everyone else
involved. They don't have to know all the details of the conspiracy or
know the acts of conspirators to accomplish the conspiracy's goals.

A driver carrying meth from Washington to Montana, for instance,
doesn't have to know that the guy who hired him is trading drugs for
guns and is planning to build a mega-lab in the parking lot at
Beartooth Elementary.

But since he had agreed to make the drug run knowing the crank would
be distributed, the driver was a member of the conspiracy and could
find himself facing the same charges as his boss.

It was all made possible thanks to a 56-year-old Supreme Court case
starring two bootleggers named Daniel and Walter Pinkerton. The
Pinkerton case established that a substantial offense, such as eluding
Revenuers, and a conspiracy to commit the offense are two separate
crimes.

The case also established that conspirators, even though not directly
involved in every criminal act, can be held legally responsible for
the reasonably foreseeable act of other co-conspirators. Thus Daniel,
who was in the pen at the time Walter committed the acts charged in
the indictment, could still be found guilty of them.

"So long as the partnership in crime continues, the partners act for
each other in carrying it forward," the Supreme Court wrote in 1946.

And there was born the Pinkerton Theory that plagues drug traffickers
today.

So, a street dealer supporting his habit could find himself
responsible for a Mac 10 someone near the top of the conspiracy used
to protect his drug profits. The street dealer wouldn't necessarily
have to know about the gun or have ever met the man who owned it.

But if they were both connected to the same conspiracy, the street
dealer should imply that someone in the chain might have a gun. A
semiautomatic weapon in a drug operation carries a mandatory minimum
10-year sentence.

Selling drugs to kids offers another opportunity to secure a long
prison sentence. Don't get caught dealing to anyone under age 21 or
anywhere near places where kids hang out -- schools, daycare centers,
playgrounds, universities, arcades or swimming pools, for example,
because the penalties double. The same is true if you sell drugs to a
pregnant woman.

And don't forget money laundering. Send a money wire for a friend or
husband who deals, and you're illegally laundering drug proceeds. Or
call someone on the telephone to set up a drug transaction -- that's a
violation too.

Congress also strove, in formulating drug laws, to remove the profit
motive. The government can institute forfeiture proceedings against
any property acquired with drug proceeds or used in furtherance of
drug trafficking.

Montana drug dealers have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in
cash, homes, vehicles, weapons and recreational vehicles through drug
forfeiture proceedings.

Right now, the government is battling members of drug kingpin Victor
Nava Sr.'s family for three houses prosecutors said he owned on the
South side. According to the government, Nava, who is serving two life
terms, used the properties as part of his drug dealing operation. He
was also ordered to forfeit $36,050 in cash and three firearms.

Last month, the government raised $35,700 at an auction of property
seized from drug dealer Noel Morris, convicted earlier this year of
conspiracy to distribute meth and money laundering. U.S. marshals sold
his Harley Davidsons, a converted ambulance and trailer and other
vehicles. Still to be sold are several parcels of land in Billings and
property near Molt. Prosecutors contend he accumulated more than
$300,000 in assets during his drug dealing days.

In addition to his money losses, Morris will spend 14 years in prison,
less good time.

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SERIES INDEX:

Hard Time http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n262.a04.html

No 2nd Chances With Drug Crimes http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n250.a11.html

It's The Law http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n258.a02.html

Prison Means Marking Time for Family, Too http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n263.a05.html

Paying the Price http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n265.a04.html

Partners in Crime http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n270.a03.html

Some Caught in Conspiracy Talk to Avoid Long Sentences http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n271.a02.html

Montana Project Tells Students About Drug Penalites http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n277.a02.html

Sometimes, State Charges Can Be a Wake-Up Call http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n277.a03.html

Editorial: U.S. Law Snares State Drug Dealers http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n277.a04.html