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Feds drop drug conspiracy charges

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Illinois

Federal prosecutors in Chicago have quietly dropped narcotics conspiracy charges against more than two dozen defendants accused of ripping off drug stash houses as part of controversial undercover stings that have sparked allegations across the country of entrapment and racial profiling.

The decade-old strategy is also under fire because federal authorities, as part of a ruse, led targets to think large quantities of cocaine were often stashed in the hideouts, ensuring long prison terms upon conviction because of how federal sentencing laws work. […]

The stings, led by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, have been highly criticized for targeting mostly minority suspects, many of whom were drawn into the bogus rip-offs by informants who promised easy money at vulnerable points in their lives.

The cases are built on an elaborate ruse concocted by the ATF. Everything about the stash house is fictitious and follows a familiar script, from supposedly armed guards that need to be dealt with to the quantity of drugs purportedly stashed there. By pretending the house contains a large amount of narcotics, authorities can vastly escalate the potential prison time defendants face, including up to life sentences.

I’m pretty sure I already told you that a former uncle of mine by marriage was caught up in a sting very similar to this. He thought he was unloading a plane that was chock full of cocaine, but the cocaine was actually just drywall paste and the plane was owned by the feds. He was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for conspiracy.

He was hanging out with some very bad people back then, so it was probably only a matter of time before he was busted for something. He has since totally turned his life around.

But ten years for drywall paste seemed a bit much.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 30, 15 @ 9:25 am

Comments

There’s enough real crime going on that the federales don’t have to manufacture it to make their jobs easier.

Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Jan 30, 15 @ 9:37 am
What Tom Ahern said.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Jan 30, 15 @ 9:42 am
I don’t see how this doesn’t qualify as entrapment. These people, including your uncle, shouldn’t be going to jail.

As an aside, most federal terrorism cases/convictions follow similar schemes, and entrap otherwise innocent people.

It’s just wrong.

Comment by jerry 101 Friday, Jan 30, 15 @ 9:47 am
Insiders know that new USA Zach Farden is cleaning up some of the messes left by Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has been lionized by the media, but was known for a lack of empathy and over- aggresssiveness. The Blago conviction will be remanded in part, due to this trait.

Comment by Let'sMovetoTexas Friday, Jan 30, 15 @ 10:29 am
Doesn’t look this will get any better nationwide if Lynch is confirmed as AG.

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Jan 30, 15 @ 1:17 pm