Prosecutor Declines Life Term in Crack Case

In a surprising move, the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles passed up an opportunity Monday to employ a tough new anti-drug law that dictates life sentences without parole for repeat offenders convicted of selling even small amounts of drugs.

The case involved Fred Hagler, a Compton man convicted in January of selling 65.9 grams (2.3 ounces) of crack cocaine. It was Hagler’s third felony drug conviction, and under a 1988 law he could have been sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

Prosecutors, however, persuaded the judge to disregard--for purposes of sentencing--one of the prior convictions. This allowed Judge Alex Kozinski to give Hagler, 37, a mandatory 20-year term instead of life--the minimum term available under mandatory federal sentencing laws for selling at least 50 grams of crack cocaine.

Special Assistant U.S. Atty. Alan G. Dahle said a variety of factors prompted the request for a more lenient sentence. He pointed out that Hagler had not used a gun in his drug-dealing.

In an interview, the veteran prosecutor said his decision had been approved by his superiors in the U.S. attorney’s office, including James Walsh, who heads the major drug crimes unit, and Robert Brosio, the acting U.S. attorney. Dahle also said he had consulted officials of the Drug Enforcement Administration, which arrested Hagler.

The U.S. attorney’s office’s handling of the Hagler case contrasted sharply to how it acted when the first opportunity arose to use the mandatory life-sentence law. Four months ago, the U.S. attorney’s office used the statute for the first time in securing a life term for Richard Winrow, 22, who was convicted of possessing 5.5 ounces of crack, his fourth drug-related conviction. When arrested, a .357-caliber handgun was found in Winrow’s bedroom.

While law enforcement officials have praised the mandatory sentencing law as a deterrent against drug-dealing, Dahle said the U.S. attorney’s office has decided to evaluate the opportunities for mandatory life terms on a case-by-case basis.

“It’s not an easy decision,” the prosecutor said.

A relieved Elliot Stanford, Hagler’s lawyer, said he was “amazed that the government made a policy decision not to go for a life sentence.” He had submitted briefs arguing that such a sentence was unconstitutional because it violated the Bill of Rights’ prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Nonetheless, Stanford argued that even 20 years was too much, because some murderers might get out of jail before his client did. He also said that under state law, Hagler would have received a five-year sentence.

Kozinski said from the bench that, in some respects, a 20-year sentence for selling 2.3 ounces of crack was shockingly harsh.

“But I believe Congress meant to shock,” the judge said. “Congress wanted to shock those who think they can get away with it.”

Afterward, Dempsey Jones, the DEA agent who worked undercover on the case, said the agency basically agreed with the decision not to ask for a life sentence, but added that he believed that Hagler should have received 30 years.

Dahle said 20 years was hardly an excessive sentence for Hagler. He said Hagler’s record--including convictions in 1983 and 1986--showed that he had been dealing drugs for years and that Congress was trying to deal with recidivists such as him.

“Drug dealers,” the prosecutor said, “are destroying that community, and we have an obligation to deal with that.”

Hagler spoke briefly just before the judge pronounced sentence. “I was a hard-working guy trying to make money legally,” said Hagler, the father of three children, one of whom testified on his behalf at trial.

“I didn’t kill no one. I’m not a drug dealer. I was a user. . . . I was clean 5 1/2 to six years.” He said that drug-dealing had been widespread at the New Wilmington Arms project, where he was arrested by a task force of agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency and local police.

Judge Kozinski said from the bench that he was confronted with a difficult decision. Nonetheless, he said Congress had the authority to enact a statute that compelled a 20-year term for a person found guilty of dealing 50 grams or more of crack if the person has a previous felony drug conviction.

Kozinski, a federal appeals court judge who was presiding over Hagler’s trial in an attempt to help a federal district judge with an overloaded calendar, said if it were his personal decision to make, he might have rendered a lighter sentence. He said he believed that there were important questions raised by the mandatory-sentencing law that need further review.

And he concluded by urging Hagler to appeal the sentence: “I think you have a chance.”

A dramatic interruption occurred midway through the proceeding when, from the back row of Courtroom 6 in the downtown federal Courthouse, a woman launched a wailing plea for Kozinski’s attention.

Grace Green, the mother of Hagler’s co-defendant, Stephen Green, begged Kozinski to reverse a decision he had made earlier in the morning, sentencing her 20-year-old son to a 10-year term mandated for anyone selling at least 50 grams of crack cocaine. She also implored the judge not to impose a harsh sentence on Hagler.

“My son and this guy was set up,” Green yelled.

“You should see the neighborhood,” she said referring to the Compton housing project where Hagler lives and she used to reside. “There are other people there dealing drugs that I know about, but I can’t say who. You get killed when you come forward.”

Green, 43, told the judge that she was a mother of eight who worked for $3.75 an hour at a convalescent home and taught her children to live honestly. She pleaded:

“I raised them in church. Please! Please! Please! Fred is a good man. He works on cars. We’re poor black people. That is a terrible neighborhood.”

Kozinski interrupted the outburst and invited Green to come to the front of the courtroom, where he told her that he had no choice.

“I know you tried hard and this is extremely painful,” Kozinski said. “The problem is the Congress decided this is a very serious problem. Mrs. Green, I don’t want you to get discouraged. You have other children. They’re doing well. Stand by them. Stephen is young. He’ll survive this.”

Then Green’s daughter, Dietra, yelled, “No, he won’t,” and led her weeping mother from the courtroom.