Pubdate: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV) Copyright: 1999 Reno Gazette-Journal Contact: http://www.nevadanet.com/renogazette/index.html Author: Anjeanette Damon POLICE, DA SAY JUDGE WAS TOO LENIENT IN DRUG CASE Police are seething at a Washoe District Court judge's recent sentencing of two methamphetamine traffickers involved in one of the county's largest drug busts, and county prosecutors say they may let federal officials handle big drug cases in the future. Instead of receiving mandatory sentences of 10 years to life in prison for trafficking 18 pounds of methamphetamine, 22-year-old Yadira Fuentes was given probation by Judge Steven Kosach. Co-defendant Martha Magana-Silva was sentenced to one year in prison after the judge decided both had provided "substantial assistance" to law enforcement. Nevada law allows drug traffickers to avoid lengthy prison sentences if they lead police to their suppliers or help officers build other drug cases. The judge decides whether substantial assistance was given. But Lt. Doug Cardwell, commander of the Consolidated Narcotics Unit, said the minimal information provided by Fuentes and Magana-Silva after they spent nearly a year in jail waiting for their case to be tried was of no use to detectives. He called Kosach's justification for giving the women reduced sentences a mockery of the system. "My guys work very hard under very dangerous conditions to make these cases," Cardwell said. "This was one of the biggest cases ever and they get off with a slap on the wrist. It's frustrating." Kosach said he is bound by judicial ethics not to comment on a case that might be appealed but said the sentencing wasn't a difficult decision. "I don't really feel like I need to give my side because it wasn't that hard of a decision to make," he said. "Those two women did what they did and I had to make judgment call." Assistant District Attorney John Helzer fought to keep the 1999 case in the state court system when federal prosecutors asked to take it because of the amount of drugs involved. Washoe County prosecutors had helped police build the case against Fuentes and Martha Magana-Silva and wanted to see it to the finish. "I've had serious questions asked of me whether I made the right decision," Helzer said. "If I had it to do over again, I would send it to the feds. I thought we as a state could take care of business." Kosach said he is disappointed by the reaction to his sentence and wants to meet with CNU detectives and Helzer to "clear the air." Undercover narcotic detectives had spent six months trying to track down the leader of a methamphetamine ring operating in Washoe County when they finally came across Fuentes last December. Because the ring leader had his "runners" deal the drugs, police never had enough evidence to arrest him for trafficking, Cardwell said. Fuentes and Magana-Silva could have provided the evidence detectives were looking for. The women, however, decided to remain silent at the time of their arrest. On three separate occasions, undercover detectives purchased a quarter of an ounce of methamphetamine from Fuentes, known to them as Jennifer Paz-Hernandez, Officer Ernesto Leyva said. After the third buy, police followed Fuentes until she met with Magana-Silva. The two women then drove to a storage shed on Longley Lane. Police watched Magana-Silva go into the storage shed and arrested both when she returned to the car, Leyva said. Police found two pounds of meth inside the car and another 16 pounds of the drug inside the storage shed. "Eighteen pounds of meth is as big as deals get in Reno," Cardwell said. Undercover officers already knew Magana-Silva. They had arrested her in May on charges of possession of a controlled substance. Two months later, while she was free on bail from the arrest in May, they picked her up again on another charge of possessing a controlled substance. She was serving probation on the two charges when officers found her with Fuentes. Investigators gave the women several opportunities to work with them, Leyva said. "What it comes down to is an interpretation of what substantial assistance is," Leyva said. "To us, it is if they give us information we can use to make an arrest or if they do a controlled buy from their source. They render assistance or they go to prison." Both women were adamant about keeping quiet, Leyva said. Fuentes and Magana-Silva originally pleaded innocent to a Level III trafficking charge, which carries mandatory sentences of 10 years to 25 years in prison or 10 years to life and a $500,000 fine. Nine months after their arrest, their lawyers worked out plea agreements with Deputy District Attorney Roy Stralla. As part of the agreement, Magana-Silva wrote what Stralla characterized as a "come clean" letter, describing what she did and naming her suppliers. She drove around Reno with CNU detectives pointing out the homes of her customers and suppliers. She also said Fuentes had worked for her and was not responsible for the load of meth found in the shed. But many of the people Magana-Silva named no longer lived at the addresses she provided and detectives could never confirm the information she gave them, Cardwell said. According to Stralla, her plea did not involve providing "substantial assistance." At her sentencing on Oct. 26, Stralla recommended she receive 10 to 25 years in prison, the lesser of the two mandatory sentences outlined by Nevada law. Magana-Silva's lawyer argued she provided substantial assistance, completed drug rehabilitation and deserved probation because she had worked to fix her life while in jail. Kosach agreed that she had provided assistance and sentenced her to one year. Four days later, Fuentes lawyer sent a letter to police indicating Fuentes also wanted to provide assistance. Fuentes, who has no prior drug convictions, had earlier pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of Level II trafficking. Stralla was recommending a prison sentence of two to five years. "I had no idea he would give her probation, which is ridiculous," Stralla said. Because the transcript to Fuentes Nov. 16 sentencing is sealed, the information she offered during the hearing as substantial assistance is not available. Leyva, who attended the hearing, said she gave the judge a name of her alleged supplier. Kosach would not comment on the information. Fuentes' tip also did not help CNU build any additional cases. "I was very upset," Leyva said. "What upset me the most was she sat there and said she wasn't going to render assistance. She sat there and said she was going to take her lumps and do the time." Because of federal sentencing rules, both women would have served at least 10 years in prison if they had been convicted in federal court, Helzer said. And Magana-Silva's prior convictions would have added time to the total. Kosach said he generally decides whether a defendant has assisted police based on advice from the detective working the case. He then adjusts the length of the sentence based on the amount of drugs and the defendantís criminal history. He said he feels sorry for the "mules," people such as Fuentes and Magana-Silva who deal the drugs for a ring leader and then pass along the profits. Kosach also said he disagrees with the substantial assistance law, which allows dealers to inform on each other to get off the hook. "I think it is a valuable tool for law enforcement," he said. "But I don't like it. If you or I tattle on each other, it is not a good thing to do. You're a rat. In the drug culture, it's dirty business. And it's dangerous. I've had a couple (of defendants) not give substantial assistance because they felt it was too dangerous." Helzer said the law forces a trafficker to make a choice between serving a lengthy prison sentence in order to continue in the drug culture or stop dealing drugs for life. "If you make the decision to help law enforcement, you're pretty much out of the drug business," he said. "You're burning those bridges. If you don't, you're a better soldier." - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer