Pubdate: Wed, 02 Jul 2014
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR)
Copyright: 2014 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/25
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Author: Linda Satter
Page: 1B
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

8-YEAR SENTENCE STANDS IN EX-OFFICER'S 'POT' CASE

Not Entitled to Reduction, Panel Rules

A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a 
more than 81/2-year sentence for former Little Rock police officer 
Mark Anthony Jones. He admitted to helping escort a load of marijuana 
across the city in 2012 - but later said he did so only because the 
FBI dangled an irresistible wad of cash in front of him.

Jones, 47, argued at his sentencing hearing in late October that 
because he cooperated with prosecutors, he was entitled to a sentence 
below the 97- to 121-month penalty range recommended by federal 
sentencing guidelines.

U.S. District Judge James Moody, who has since retired, rejected that 
request and instead imposed a 104-month sentence. The judge explained 
that Jones didn't seem remorseful, ignored an emergency dispatch to 
carry out the crime while on duty, and later made inconsistent 
statements about what led him to participate in the crime.

Jones pleaded guilty on June 28, 2013, to a charge of attempting to 
aid and abet the possession with intent to distribute 1,000 pounds of 
marijuana on March 22, 2012. By pleading guilty and agreeing to 
cooperate with prosecutors, he saw several other charges dismissed 
and avoided facing a federal jury last summer alongside his 
half-brother, former Little Rock officer Randall Tremayn Robinson.

Jones and Robinson were jointly accused of agreeing to use their 
police cars to follow two vans that Jones was told each contained a 
500-pound shipment of marijuana. Boxes inside the vans actually 
contained only a small amount of marijuana, and the delivery was 
really an FBI sting operation monitored by air and ground 
surveillance. An FBI agent testified that the operation was 
precipitated by numerous complaints to the FBI over a period of years 
that the half brothers were "dirty cops."

A federal jury deadlocked last summer on whether to convict Robinson 
on charges stemming from the sting operation, but convicted him of 
selling a half-pound of marijuana to an informant in 2009. Robinson 
was acquitted of the sting-operation charges two weeks ago after a 
retrial, but the second jury convicted him of a new charge of making 
false material statements to the FBI during its 2012 investigation.

He is to be sentenced Oct. 3 on both convictions.

During both of Robinson's trials, defense attorney Bill James argued 
there was no proof that Jones ever told Robinson why he wanted 
Robinson to follow one of the two vans. James also argued there was 
no proof that Jones ever passed on to Robinson half - or any - of the 
$10,000 cash that Jones was filmed taking from a former drug dealer 
who was cooperating with the FBI. Jones was a 26-year veteran of the 
department and had authority over Robinson, an 11-year veteran.

In affirming Moody's decision to sentence Jones within the guideline 
range, the 8th Circuit panel noted that the judge acknowledged Jones' 
good record with the Police Department, his lack of criminal history 
and the credibility of witnesses who testified about his good 
character. The panelists said Moody nonetheless reasoned that Jones 
"abandoned what was a commendable career in law enforcement" to make 
money assisting in drug trafficking, cited the seriousness of a 
police officer using his position of trust in the community to 
further a crime, noted a need for deterrence and considered other 
sentences given in similar circumstances.

The panel - Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Jay Riley of Omaha, 
Neb., Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Michael Melloy of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 
and U.S. Circuit Judge Bobby Shepherd of El Dorado - noted that 
district judges have "wide latitude" to assign weight to various 
factors to determine a sentence.

Also on Tuesday, James filed motions in district court on Robinson's 
behalf asking that his false-statement conviction be vacated, saying 
it wasn't supported by the weight of the evidence and alleging that 
prosecutors only filed the new charge out of "vindictiveness" after 
the mistrial. James also complained that prosecutors told the second 
jury about the marijuana conviction from the earlier trial, saying 
they did so only to cast Robinson "in a negative light."
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