The MSM is just figuring this out.
This just in… crooks are lying to get a reduction in their sentence! Defendants convicted in Federal court are showing up at their sentencing hearing claiming a substance abuse problem. Upon successful completion of a prison based substance abuse program, inmates get a reduction in their sentence.
I’ve got news for the Sun Times, the Feds are in on it. I targeted upper level crack cocaine dealers in San Antonio, Texas. These offenders were exclusively black. Racial profiling, no crack dealers would deal with a white boy. I asked them two questions and received the same answer over 95% of the time. The respondents were typically indignant when answering. The questions. Do you use crack cocaine? and Have you ever sold dope (crack) to a white boy? In each case the answer was an emphatic No!
Most of these guys were remanded to custody. A funny thing happened during the average three month stay awaiting sentencing. Every one of those dealers (around 100- 150) developed a drug problem, while in custody. I concluded that the leading cause of drug addiction in San Antonio were Federal Judges.
One dealer put it best: “I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs and I rarely drink but pretrial services insists that I need drug rehab. I keep telling them what I got, you can’t treat. They just don’t get it.”
He went on to explain that dope dealing was a means to an end. As he put it, there is nothing like walking into a crap game where there’s fifty thousand dollars on the table. The players see you, they make room. You can throw down 50K and not care whether you win or lose. It ain’t the dope, it’s the lifestyle.
When the Federal Sentencing Guidelines were in full effect, judges were limited in their ability to deviate from the guidelines. Application for drug treatment with a corresponding downward departure for successful completion of the program was common. I never saw the government oppose a motion for mandatory drug treatment.
This seems to be a case of sour grapes. It is not okay for white collar defendants to perpetrate the fraud of non-existent drug addiction on the court. Such dishonesty is reserved for defendants of color.