Pubdate: Fri, 31 Dec 2004
Source: Palatka Daily News (FL)
Copyright: Palatka Daily News 2004
Contact:  http://www.palatkadailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2098
Author: Robert Morris

DRUG CONVICT TURNED EVIDENCE TO ESCAPE FROM LIFE SENTENCE

Normally, the arrest of a high-profile drug dealer will make even the
most hardened drug cop smile, but that smile quickly fades if the same
drug dealer was already supposed to be serving a life sentence.

March 16, 2000, Terrence Boyd, then 30, was sentenced by U.S. District
Judge Stephan Mickle to life imprisonment for trafficking in cocaine,
a federal sentence that does not carry the possibility of parole.
Tuesday night, Putnam County detectives arrested him and an accomplice
for trafficking $10,000 worth of cocaine at a Palatka convenience store.

"It's kind of disheartening," said Detective John Merchant of the
Putnam County Sheriff's Office on Thursday afternoon. "Here you have
one of the biggest, if not the biggest, crack dealers in Putnam County
gets a life sentence, and four years later we get him on the streets
trafficking again."

Boyd, known on the streets as "Bub" or "D.A." (a nickname taken from
the local funeral home, but owner Charles Boyd said his business had
no connection with Boyd), was released from federal prison Dec. 15,
2003, less than four years after his sentence. While in prison, Boyd
cooperated with federal prosecutors on other investigations and
watched his sentence dwindle away through "Rule 35" motions for his
"cooperation and substantial assistance since his sentencing."

- - April 6, 2001: Boyd received his first Rule 35 motion, reducing his
sentence from life to 197 months.

- - March 28, 2002: Boyd's sentence was reduced again through a second
Rule 35 motion, from 197 months to 98.

- - Dec. 30, 2002: A third Rule 35 motion reduced Boyd's sentence again
from 98 months to 64.

- - Dec. 1, 2003: Another 10 months were removed from Boyd's sentence,
from 64 months to 54.

- - Dec. 5, 2003: Finding that the last reduction brought his release to
within a month from the time of the order, the judge removed the last
month of his sentence, for a total sentence of 53 months.

Boyd's original sentence was a mandatory minimum sentence based not
only on the trafficking charge he was convicted of, but also his two
prior felony convictions, said Robert Davies, the federal prosecutor
in Boyd's 2000 trial, by telephone from the Pensacola office where he
works now. But that mandatory minimum sentence can be reduced through
the Rule 35 motions, what Davies said was a common practice in federal
court.

While Boyd was incarcerated, Davies said he aided prosecutors in the
conviction of between five and 10 other drug traffickers across the
state in exchange for the Rule 35 Motions.

"We file them when a criminal defendant helps us with other
criminals," Davies said. "He knew a lot of people."

The sentence reduction did not affect Boyd's 10-year probation period,
and Davies said the new drug charges constitute a major probation
violation that the judge will take into account.

"When someone gets their sentence reduced and starts committing crimes
again, that's not a good thing," Davies said.

Although the Rule 35 motion may help lock up other criminals in the
federal courts, local authorities find themselves frustrated when
history starts repeating itself and they have to arrest men they saw
sentenced to life only four years ago.

"We didn't see a whole lot of impact here when he was incarcerated, so
I don't know where all these drug dealers were that he was turning
in," Detective Merchant said. "I don't know what caliber drug dealer
you can turn in to get that much time off your sentence."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin