Pubdate: Mon, 26 Jan 2004
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2004 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author: Manny Garcia And Jason Grotto

ONE ADDICT GETS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT, ANOTHER DOESN'T

In 1998, narcotics detectives in Broward County arrested Fred Ackerman and 
William Ward for cocaine trafficking. Both had no prior felonies. Both 
blamed their downfalls on cocaine addictions, and that's where the 
similarities ended.

Ackerman, 48, a white businessman from Pompano Beach, got a "withhold of 
adjudication" and probation. He had a prominent private attorney. Ward, 45, 
a black truck driver from Virginia, got convicted and sent to state prison 
for 21 months. He had an appointed attorney who, he said, pushed a plea deal.

A closer look at the two cases shows that the legal system treated Ackerman 
far differently from Ward -- so much so that prosecutors appealed the 
withhold given to Ackerman, whose family has prominent political ties.

Daniel Aaronson, Ackerman's lawyer, asked the judge for an alternative 
sentence to spare him from prison. "My client had a drug problem and needed 
help," Aaronson said.

Police had a different take. They say Ackerman sold drugs.

A confidential informant bought cocaine from Ackerman in December 1998, 
court records show. In a search of Ackerman's apartment, detectives found 
82.5 grams of cocaine, several bags of marijuana, two drug scales, drug 
paraphernalia and "handwritings of amounts of cocaine sold."

Ackerman told authorities that the mound of cocaine was for personal use. 
He also blamed the episode on a mid-life crisis and a 20-year-old 
girlfriend who loved to party.

"I was trying to keep up with her and show her that I'm still young," 
Ackerman told Broward Circuit Judge Ana Gardiner.

The state asked for 21 months.

At the sentencing, Amadeo "Trinchi" Trinchitella -- a Broward political 
rainmaker who had worked with the judge on the North Broward Hospital 
District -- testified on behalf of Ackerman.

"I would make every effort to see Fred stays on the straight and narrow," 
he said.

Trinchitella, records show, was one of dozens of people who wrote to 
then-Gov. Lawton Chiles, asking him to appoint Gardiner to the bench. The 
judge said Trinchitella did not influence her, and she said she erred in 
giving Ackerman a withhold.

"I was new and not aware I could not withhold on trafficking," Gardiner 
told The Herald.

Trinchitella also said he had no sway with the judge.

"I have no influence with Ana," he said.

Attorney Aaronson said withholds were created for people like Ackerman.

"Fred has been a model probationer," the lawyer said.

Ward, the black defendant, challenged his arrest and took his case to 
trial. But he said that then-Broward Circuit Judge Joyce Julian had already 
made up her mind.

"My lawyer told me the judge believed I was a trafficker," Ward said. "I 
didn't want to take a plea. I was innocent."

Police didn't think so. A confidential informant sold Ward 5 ounces of 
cocaine to truck back to Virginia to sell for a profit, police reports state.

Ward said he refused to cooperate because, although he had a cocaine 
addiction, he was not a trafficker.

"They didn't want to hear that," Ward said. 'One cop kept on looking at my 
rings, saying, 'You must be a drug dealer to have all that jewelry.' "

At trial, Ward said his lawyer recommended that he take a plea. "My lawyer 
said if I got convicted, the judge would keep me jailed during the appeal 
because I was from out of town and a flight risk," Ward said. "That could 
take up to four years."

Julian sentenced Ward to 21 months. She told The Herald that she could not 
remember the case.

Ward's lawyer, Larry Shendell, said he got a good deal, because the judge 
could have given him 70 months.

"You also can't get a withhold on trafficking cases," Shendell said.

But Ackerman did. He remains free and working.

Ward said he lucked out because his trucking company took him back.

"I got lucky," he said. "Can you imagine trying to get a job with a felony 
conviction?"
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman