LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES COOPERATING IN WAR ON DRUGS

Cooperation among federal, state and local agencies has led to some
lengthy jail time for drug dealers arrested in the Gadsden area,
authorities said. "We have seen the dismantlement of some major drug
organizations," said Assistant District Attorney Jimmie Harp, who
prosecutes most of the county's drug cases. The district attorney's
office works often with Gadsden and Etowah County narcotics agents,
but recently those agencies worked on several major cases with agents
of the FBI and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. Working so
closely all started when police arrested Joseph Crews in 1999 after
his home on Elmwood Avenue was raided, said Danny Garnett, special
agent with the FBI assigned to the Gadsden office. Crews' home, known
by police as a crack house, was raided in May 1999 by local officers,
he said. Two women were shot to death there two months later.

Crews was tried and convicted in federal court and was sentenced to
20 years on federal drug-trafficking charges, Garnett said. "That's
when we started to realize we were all working on a piece of the
puzzle," Garnett said. "We've all been able to share information. "We
didn't work against each other, but we didn't communicate," he said.
"Maybe we can prevent some of these problems by working together."
The dismantlement of the Crews organization led to the investigations
of two other families, Garnett said. Several people in connection
with those investigations have pleaded guilty, Garnett said. Some
have been sentenced and other sentencing hearings are set for next
month. One family operated a drug operation in the Green Pastures
area of Gadsden, Garnett said. Jermaine Jackson, 25, was sentenced to
20 years, but has appealed the sentence, Garnett said. Kenny T.
Jackson, 51, was sentenced to 10 years.

Luster Gene Jackson, 38, was sentenced to 20 years, and Surina
Miller, 31, was sentenced to 30 months. The other family had a drug
operation on Tennessee Avenue, Garnett said. As part of that
operation, Chris Lowe and Antoine Cotton pleaded guilty and recently
were sentenced to 60 months.

Tony Smith also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 37 months.
Brothers Marcus and Antwain Harvey both have pleaded guilty and are
set for sentencing in May. At first, local agencies were making drug
possession cases and trafficking cases on individuals and individual
buys, Harp said. "You have small buys, big buys and then start
consolidating under one umbrella," Harp said. "It has made a big
difference in the drug business in this area." Then the local
agencies started working with the FBI and the cases could be
consolidated for a conspiracy charge, which can carry stiffer
penalties. When someone is sentenced to 20 years, the sentence is
usually at least 85 percent of the sentence, Garnett said. "We were
able to prosecute the organization," Garnett said. The success of
these cases has led to more investigations, Garnett said. "We've
taken a different approach to the drug problems in this county and
surrounding counties," he said. "We want to send the message there
are more cases to come." Anytime there is a joint operation between
state and federal agencies, the judges, prosecutors and agents all
have a role, he said. "When we're able to remove one crime problem,
it frees up police agencies to address new problems," he said. "It's
been a lot of extra work, but it has paid off." The investigations
are a culmination of a lot of long hours on weekends and nights, Harp
said. "It has meant time away from our families," he said, "but I'm
happy with the sentences.

I'm satisfied with the results of our efforts." At the same time the
investigation into the local drug problem in Etowah County was
ongoing, a major case in which marijuana and cocaine were brought in
from Texas was investigated, Garnett said. In January, three people
were sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty last year,
Garnett said. Elias Aguirre Jr. was sentenced to 15 years and eight
months, while two others were sentenced to three years or less for
trafficking in the drugs. "The delivery was intercepted before the
drugs made it to the local streets," he said. Much of the
investigation into cases in which people are now being sentenced
began as early as 1997, said Randall Johnson, commander of the Etowah
County Drug and Major Crime Task Force. "Sometimes people don't
realize how long it takes to see results," Johnson said. "We get a
complaint about drug dealers in a certain neighborhood and those
people don't see anything immediate.

They think that nothing is being done." Many residents in the East
Gadsden neighborhoods where drug organizations were operated have
seen a difference, Garnett said. "It's a safer place than it used to
be," he said. "Those people can get out and walk the streets at night
if they want to." Garnett said he hopes the success of these
investigations sends a message. "This is just the beginning," he
said. "These people are spending some major time in jail. We hope the
message goes out to the street and maybe the younger ones won't look
up to those who are dealing drugs."