F*cked Justice

At the same time that super-corrupt GOP wunderkind John G. Rowland is set free after serving a mere 10 months for selling favors and access as Governor of Connecticut, a man in Kansas is going to jail for life for supposedly planning to sell crack cocaine.

Now, I'm not pro-crack or anything, but this life sentence seems completely out of whack when measured against the crime. It deserves national attention.

Man caught with crack cocaine near KU faces life in prison

By Eric Weslander

For the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World

Thursday, February 9, 2006

A Leavenworth man caught with crack cocaine during a traffic stop on the Kansas University campus is facing life in prison.

Jurors in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., on Wednesday convicted Theogen E. Garner, 42, of one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public university.

KU police stopped Garner's pickup truck about 1:12 a.m. July 21, 2005, near 15th and Iowa streets after seeing it weaving within its lane and driving at nearly half the speed limit. The officer saw Garner's eyes were bloodshot and his hands were shaking, and a computerized record check showed Garner was on parole, according to court records.

Another officer arrived and spotted what appeared to be a marijuana cigar behind Garner's ear, according to records. Garner admitted it was marijuana, and while an officer was patting him down, he pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket and said: "I got some drugs in here. I'm just gonna go ahead and lay down on the ground."

Police eventually found 82 grams of crack cocaine in the truck in addition to the 13 grams in his pocket.

Garner told officers he had bought 3.25 ounces of crack cocaine in Lawrence and planned to sell it and double his money.

According to U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren, Garner faces a mandatory life sentence because of the amount of cocaine combined with his past convictions in Leavenworth County for sale of cocaine and sale of marijuana.

The case was the first one prosecuted in federal court by Douglas County Assistant Dist. Atty. Brandon Jones, who recently received a special designation allowing him to try federal cases.

Dist. Atty. Charles Branson said involving Jones with federal cases would allow more drug dealers caught in Lawrence to be charged in federal court, where penalties are stiffer.

"If you're a drug dealer, we're going to get you off the street one way or the other," Branson said. "If we've got to take you on up to federal court to do so, we're going to do that."

Call or write Douglas County (Kan.) District Attorney Charles Branson at (785) 841-0211 or districtattorney@douglas-county.com and tell him that this kind of draconian sentence is a discredit to his office and to the justice system in Kansas.