Pubdate: Sun, 18 Apr 2010 Source: Quad-City Times (IA) Copyright: 2010 Quad-City Times Contact: http://www.qctimes.com/app/pages/contact/new/?contact=letters Website: http://www.qctimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/857 Author: Dustin Lemmon POLICE USING FEDERAL SENTENCES TO HELP SLOW VIOLENCE From Sunset Park in Rock Island and Fejervary Park in Davenport, from bars, a convenience store and four houses in three cities, they dealt crack cocaine, police said. Five men - siblings George and Soevier "Nose" Granderson, Bruce Pugh, Lee Govain and Russell Cowan - all now face heavy federal prison sentences for their drug dealing in Rock Island, Davenport and East Moline. None was a stranger to police. At least two of them dealt for a decade or more. The case is just one of 82 from Rock Island involving repeat-offender drug dealers or gun-toters prosecuted in federal court since 2006. Davenport police say at least 150 of their cases since 2005 resulted in federal convictions. Dozens more are pending or under investigation. Both city police departments have specific and increasing efforts to get criminals off the street for a long time. In the federal system, convicts not only get longer sentences, they serve at least 85 percent of their time. Meanwhile, the word is getting around to repeat offenders that their crimes could result in a federal sentence, said Rick Voy, a Davenport detective who is assigned to the area's federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, task force. "People who get caught will make remarks to us about their crimes going federal," Voy said. "They'll ask us, 'Will I see federal court?' . Word's getting around." The roller coaster It's not the first time authorities have used the tactic to quash street crime. When violence by Quad-City street gangs escalated in the early and mid-1990s, local police and prosecutors targeted the leaders of the gangs. A new federal presence in the Quad-Cities - which is uniquely home to two federal courthouses, one in Rock Island and one in Davenport - meant those gang leaders went away for a long time. Without their leadership, the gangs weakened and disbanded. Violent crime in Rock Island dropped from a two-decade high of 524 offenses in 1995, to a two-decade low of 347 in 2000. But the numbers started creeping up again. The number of violent crimes recorded in 2007 hit 441. In response, Rock Island, Davenport and other agencies turned to the federal courts again, this time targeting repeat offenders they say commit a significant number of the violent crimes. The number of violent offenses dropped to 394 last year in Rock Island, police say. "You take a chunk out of the (criminal) population, and the crime rate is down," Rock Island police detective Gene Karzin said. Karzin is assigned to the ATF office in the Quad-Cities, launched in 2005, along with Davenport's Voy. After an arrest is made, investigators talk with county and federal prosecutors to determine where a criminal will receive the greatest sentence, Voy said. The collaboration is vital, said Sgt. Kevin Smull of the tactical operations bureau of the Davenport Police Department. "Our common goal is arresting bad guys and getting them off the street," Smull said. Jeff Lang, acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, said his office makes prosecuting gun and drug crimes a priority. "When violent felons and drug dealers and robbers use a firearm, the chance of violence is significantly higher than when they don't use a gun," Lang said. Mike Bladel, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, said that "in the Davenport area, there is an extraordinary history of cooperation ... enhancing a federal prosecution presence since the mid-1990s." The federal presence is one that "continues to be supported and sustained. It does appear to have a substantial impact on the area." The rising tide Chuck Beason will spend the rest of his life behind bars for dealing crack cocaine. His brother, Robert Beason, is in prison on a 20-year sentence on the same charge. Tyland Beason, a younger relative, got seven years in prison. They were among seven people from Rock Island cases to be convicted in federal court in 2006 for trafficking drugs or firearms charges. The sentences totalled 75 years, along with Chuck Beason's life sentence. In 2007, 18 drug and firearms cases from Rock Island went federal, including a case against eight members of the Lee family. The Lees dealt drugs out of family matriarch Jeffie Lee's Rock Island home for several years. Kash Lee received a life sentence. The rest of the family tallied a total of more than 70 years in prison. The remaining 10 cases that year produced more than 104 years in prison and one life sentence. In 2008, 38 Rock Island cases moved to federal court, including the Grandersons' case. Those generated 168 years in prison sentences and three life sentences. Ten cases from that year remain pending. In 2009, 43 such cases were prosecuted in federal court. Eighteen cases are pending. Those resolved resulted in 45 years worth of prison sentences and one life sentence. Five cases, each still pending, have been filed this year. Meanwhile, in Davenport, a federal judge has sent 85 drug defendants to prison since the summer of 2007. Fifty-one await sentencing or are under investigation. Since 2005, 66 gun cases earned federal convictions, with 27 under investigation. "We like going federal" because of truth-in-sentencing, said Capt. David Struckman, commander of the criminal investigation division for Davenport. "It's not 15 years, out in three." Seizures Criminal charges and lengthy prison sentences aren't the only way for police and prosecutors to deter crime. The Rock Island County State's Attorney's office, like many other agencies, pursues drug dealers' possessions through civil proceedings. They've used the courts to seize money, vehicles and houses. Norma Kauzlarich, assistant Rock Island County State's Attorney, recalls one case in which a man suspected of dealing drugs fled to Mexico, never to be seen locally again after learning authorities moved to seize his possessions. He left behind a brand new car. "He left within a day," Kauzlarich said. "He was scared." Rock Island received $420,000 in 2009 from a total of $632,430 worth of property seizures. The money is used in the city's narcotics budget for car rentals, cell phones, informant money and televisions for training. Officers use some of the automobiles they seize for undercover work or unmarked surveillance, Rock Island Police Chief John Wright said. "It's been a windfall for us," the chief said, adding the money cannot be used for officer salaries. The advantage to a civil filing is that the state doesn't have to provide as much evidence or proof as it would to secure a criminal conviction, Kauzlarich said. If they can show the individuals are involved with dealing drugs and the items seized were instrumental in those deals, that is enough to take the property. Most dealers consider property loss part of the business, but some take exception to it and aren't afraid to voice their frustration to Kauzlarich. "People are more upset that I'm taking their stuff than they are that they might be facing felony charges," she said. "You would think they would be a little concerned that they are a blip on somebody's radar." One of the most high-profile seizures by the county and federal courts occurred in 2007. The city took ownership of the Lee family's home at 705 9th Ave. and demolished it last fall. Guns, pot and crack Late one Saturday night in November, members of Davenport's tactical operations bureau pounded on the doors of two apartments. Inside them, they found enough crack cocaine, marijuana and loaded guns to send six people to prison for years to come. One of the guns was an AK-47. Lekeebrion Diquion Jackson, Deon Donta Smith, Alvin Lee Cooper, Irvin Joy Cooper, Lovell Jonathan Flowers and Amie Henderson-Cooper are all charged now in federal court with drug and gun charges. Federal authorities are requesting forfeiture of the four guns and more than $27,000 in cash. Like the case involving the Grandersons from Rock Island, two of the defendants are siblings. All are in custody. Their trial is set for June. - ------------------------ Brian Wellner contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart