Pubdate: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC) Copyright: 2001 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc. Contact: P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102 Feedback: http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/letters/ Website: http://www.journalnow.com/ Author: John Hinton FINING DRUG DEALERS INEFFECTIVE, MANY SAY Most Of Those Convicted Are Low-Level Sellers And Can't Pay David Zuniga, a man convicted of drug-trafficking, believes that his punishment doesn't fit the crime. A judge sentenced Zuniga to 5 years and 10 months to 7 years in prison and fined him $50,000 last year after Zuniga pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking and conspiracy charges. ''How does anyone even expect an inmate to come up with that kind of money?'' said Zuniga, 29, after being contacted by the Winston-Salem Journal. ''It looks to me as if somebody, somewhere is cashing in bigger than the drug dealers out there.'' Nearly 20 years ago, state legislators gave judges the right to impose steep fines on those convicted of drug trafficking in addition to long prison sentences. At the time, legislators said that toughening the penalties would deter dealers from distributing large amounts of illegal drugs and protect citizens from drug use. But has it worked? Critics say that the fines and other penalties are unfairly aimed at poor, street-level dealers and have failed to curtail the flow of illegal drugs into the state. ''Politicians wanted to go home and tell people that they were hard on drugs,'' said George Cleland, the author of the state's first drug law that contained provisions for fining those convicted of drug trafficking. ''But the law hasn't worked because its approach is flawed. We need to stop putting nonviolent drug offenders in prison.'' Even supporters of the law admit that it has flaws. District Attorney Tom Keith and Judge L. Todd Burke of Forsyth Superior Court support the idea of fines but said that most of those convicted of drug trafficking See PENALTIES, Page A6 don't pay them when they are released from prison. ''A fine looks good in the media,'' Keith said. ''But it's whistling up a rope. Drug dealers don't have anything we can find.'' Aiming at the wallet Under state law, judges can fine defendants who are convicted of trafficking marijuana, cocaine, heroin or any other illegal drug. The fines range from $5,000 for trafficking 10 to 50 pounds of marijuana to $250,000 for trafficking 33 ounces or more of cocaine or methamphetamines. Most people convicted of trafficking cocaine and marijuana in Forsyth County are fined $50,000 and sentenced to 35 months to 42 months in prison, court records show. Court officials in Forsyth County and nearby areas say they collect only a small amount of the fines imposed in drug-trafficking convictions. Despite the low collection rate, supporters say that fines and other sanctions are appropriate. ''If the law was being enforced, it would have an impact,'' said Rufus Edmisten, a former N.C. attorney general. ''The thing a drug pusher hates to lose most is his money.'' Pressure to get tough Cleland, the former counsel for the N.C. Legislative Drug Commission and a former law professor at the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote the original drug law in North Carolina that made drug trafficking a felony. Legislators enacted the law -- called the N.C. Controlled Substance Act -- in 1971 in an era when President Nixon called for a ''war on drugs'' in the United States. At the time, Cleland said it was ''the most adequate law in the United States'' to remedy the social ill of illegal drug use. Nearly 30 years later, Cleland says the law and its tougher sanctions that - -- for the first time -- punished traffickers like other offenders have not stopped drug trafficking in North Carolina. ''It is unrealistic to think that you will get these fines paid,'' said Cleland, a lawyer in Winston-Salem. ''Most of these people involved in the drug trade have never seen $50,000 in their lives.'' In 1980, former Gov. Jim Hunt and Edmisten proposed severe, mandatory prison sentences and larger fines for people convicted of drug trafficking when they saw that the Controlled Substance Act was having little effect on the drug trade. At the time, Hunt said that the provision was an emergency measure needed to fight drug smugglers. Under the Controlled Substance Act, the maximum penalty for the sale of heroin was 10 years in prison with parole possible after two years and a $10,000 fine. The same maximum penalties applied for the sale of cocaine and methaqualone (a hypnotic sedative), and the maximum for the sale of marijuana was five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The sanctions proposed by Hunt and Edmisten required mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking and fines of up to $500,000. Hunt and Edmisten said that drug smuggling had increased significantly because several nearby states had adopted tougher drug laws. They also said that their proposal would establish broader legal distinctions between those who sell drugs on a large scale and small-time drug users and dealers. ''North Carolina is increasingly being used as a landing site and distribution center for major drug dealers,'' Hunt said at that time. ''We must strengthen our commitment for fighting the big-time drug dealer who has been driven to North Carolina by strong laws which have been enacted in states such as Florida and others.'' Later that year, the General Assembly passed the tougher sanctions as part of an overhaul of the state's drug laws. Hunt's position on fines has softened today, however. ''Fines shouldn't be considered a silver bullet,'' said Tad Boggs, Hunt's press secretary. Hunt believes that tough drug laws - -- combined with prevention, treatment and education -- can help solve the problem, Boggs said. Getting the money Tim Severo, an assistant district attorney in Forsyth County, said that the fines are necessary. ''In theory, the $50,000 fine would be an effective tool to prosecute drug trafficking because drug trafficking is financially motivated,'' Severo said. ''It is one of the most effective ways to break the back of large-scale distribution of narcotics.'' Many drug dealers have assets that federal and state authorities can seize after offenders are arrested and convicted, said Severo, who prosecutes defendants charged with trafficking and drug possession charges. However, state authorities aren't aggressively pursuing the collection of those fines when defendants are convicted of trafficking or are released from prison, Severo said. There is no punishment for convicted traffickers who do not pay their fines after they are released, Judge Burke said. State officials can seize the state tax returns of convicted traffickers, but it would take years to satisfy those debts, Burke said. Still, there are officials who try to collect the fines. John Siskind, a paralegal for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools which receives money from such fines, looks for the assets of convicted traffickers. He searches records in the register of deeds and tax offices. Most people convicted of trafficking in Forsyth don't have many real assets such as houses, cars, boats or land, he said. If offenders do own property, Siskind begins the legal process to seize assets. Since 1995, though, Siskind has collected less than $20,000 in fines owed by convicted drug traffickers. ''I don't spend a lot of time on this,'' Siskind said. How does that $20,000 compare to the amount of fines actually levied? It's hard to tell. In their records, state officials do not differentiate between fines and forfeitures -- property seized during drug arrests. But based on an average fine of $50,000 levied in Forsyth County, the 41 convictions for trafficking cocaine or marijuana in 1999 would generate more than $2 million if the fines were paid. State law allows judges to place liens on real estate and other property owned by offenders who don't pay their fines. These liens will show up on credit reports if an offender applies for a car loan or a mortgage, Siskind said. That's not much of a deterrent, Edmisten said. Few convicted drug traffickers care about civil penalties or black marks on their credit. ''They slip through the cracks and don't pay their fines,'' he said. Trafficking fines were intended for drug kingpins who distribute large quantities of narcotics, not street-level dealers who sell small amounts, said Steven Clarke, a professor of public law and government at the Institute of Government at UNC Chapel Hill. ''It's a myth that (low-level dealers) are loaded with money,'' Clarke said. ''Many of these people are on drugs and selling drugs to support their habits. It is unrealistic to think that fines can be collected from these people.'' Judges often recommend work release for those convicted of drug trafficking so that they can make money to pay their fines. But offenders usually are hired for minimum-wage jobs and don't make enough to pay their other expenses, Clarke said. ''Big-time drug dealers would be able to pay the fine,'' Clarke said. ''But it would be hard for poor people to pay this money after being in prison for three years. A $50,000 debt would be hard for a middle-class person to pay.'' Inmates' views of fines Zuniga and other inmates convicted of drug trafficking who were contacted by the Journal say they don't like the fines hanging over their heads. ''I do not, under any circumstance, feel that I should have to pay this outrageous fine,'' Zuniga said. ''A prisoner is free of all debts to society once he or she completes (their) sentence.'' Chris Crumpton, 37, formerly of Winston-Salem, said he doesn't know how he will be able to pay his $50,000 fine after he is released from prison. Crumpton, an inmate at Wilkes Correctional Center in North Wilkesboro, was sentenced to 35 months to 42 months in prison after being convicted of trafficking in cocaine in 1999. Crumpton said that he will try to get a job to support his family. ''I don't see how the law allows a judge to put a man behind bars and then expects him to pay a fine that is more than a middle-class family makes in a year,'' Crumpton said. ''I don't think it is fair to pay this fine and do the time, too.'' Trying to increase collection Severo suggests that the law be amended and allow judges to give mandatory sentences to people convicted of drug trafficking and place them on probation after they serve their time. As a condition of probation, the offender would have to pay the fines, Severo said. Judge Burke agreed with this proposal and suggested that legislators examine ways to collect fines from convicted traffickers. Edmisten, also a former secretary of state in North Carolina, favors a similar plan. As a condition of a drug trafficker's release from prison, the offender must be forced to pay the fines if he has the money to do so, said Edmisten, a Raleigh lawyer and a registered lobbyist. ''They must realize that we will take your money, or we'll put you back into the pokey,'' he said. Severo also proposed better methods of identifying and seizing the assets of convicted traffickers such as hiring independent contractors to track civil judgments against offenders and to find the offenders' assets. ''A prison sentence is never enough to deter drug trafficking,'' Severo said. ''Major-league narcotic distribution is about money. What we need is a more effective way to collect the fines.'' A state agency could be established within the N.C. Attorney General's office to monitor and collect fines that convicted felons owe -- including drug traffickers who have the resources to pay them, Edmisten said. A team of lawyers could work with the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts to improve the rate of collections, he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart