Pubdate: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 Source: Oklahoman, The (OK) Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.oklahoman.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318 Author: Ed Godfrey KEATING URGED TO CUT SENTENCE LEXINGTON -- In an historic vote Tuesday, the state Pardon and Parole Board unanimously recommended the governor commute the sentence of a Kingfisher man serving life without parole for drug trafficking. Three of five board members voted to recommend that Larry E. Yarbrough's sentence be commuted to 20 years in prison. That recommendation will be forwarded to Gov. Frank Keating, who will make the final decision. The two other board members -- Currie Ballard and Marc Dreyer -- voted to commute Yarbrough's sentence to time served. Board members said Yarbrough's sentence seemed harsh compared with other drug cases. "It's just so out of line with everything else we see in here," said board member Patrick Morgan, a former Oklahoma County prosecutor. Of the 470 inmates in Oklahoma serving life without parole, only a dozen were sentenced for drug trafficking, said Jerry Massie, state Department of Corrections spokesman. Dreyer also questioned the severity of punishment for a defendant convicted of having just one ounce of powder cocaine. "Looking across the state, it seems a little bit tipped," he said of Yarbrough's sentence. District Attorney Cathy Stocker disagreed with the board's assessment that the punishment didn't fit the crime. "My plan will be to protest to the governor," she said. "I feel the citizens of our state feel very strongly that sentences in criminal cases should mean what they say." Officers found 28 grams of powder cocaine during a search of Yarbrough's home in 1994. That amount -- coupled with five prior felony convictions in 1982 for unlawful delivery of LSD and marijuana -- meant Yarbrough could be prosecuted under the state's drug trafficking law. Jurors had no choice in 1997 but to sentence Yarbrough to life without parole. The sentence is automatic for anyone convicted of drug trafficking with two prior felony offenses involving controlled and dangerous substances. E.A. "Ard" Gates, assistant district attorney in Kingfisher County, told the board he could have reduced the charge against Yarbrough to possession with intent to distribute. "But I wouldn't have been doing my job, in my view," he said. "I viewed him then, and I view him now, as a very dangerous man to our community." Tuesday's special hearing for Yarbrough at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center was the first time the board has considered commuting a life-without-parole sentence for a nonviolent offender. Kenny Goza, who handles pardon and parole issues for Keating, said Tuesday it would be premature for the governor's office to comment on the Yarbrough recommendation until his case is reviewed. Massie said if the governor chooses to follow the board's recommendation and commute Yarbrough's sentence to 20 years, it is unlikely he would be released anytime soon. Inmates convicted of drug trafficking are not eligible for the earned credits which lead to early release, he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens