Thieves Rob Midwest Supply Of Liquid Fertilizer To Make Dangerous Drug VENICE CENTER, N.Y. -- Dale Parmley has lost count of how many times thieves have crept onto his 1,800-acre grain farm to rob him. You might think he was mining gold instead of growing corn and soybean. The bandits are after anhydrous ammonia, a volatile liquid fertilizer that can be used to produce methamphetamine. "They've hit my farm as many as three, four times in one week. They just keep getting more bold," said Parmley, whose farm lies amid the Finger Lakes in southern Cayuga County, 40 miles southwest of Syracuse. [continues 804 words]
New York Man Founds Dads And Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers TIOGA CENTER, N.Y. - The first time Steven Steiner tried to fight back against drug dealers poisoning his son and millions of other American teens, he couldn't find the words or the passion. He was just another parent who felt powerless - until his 19-year-old son died from a prescription drug overdose in January last year. Since then, the 41-year-old electrician has turned into a crusader. He founded Dads and Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers, or DAMMADD. [continues 825 words]
Web Site Offers Rewards And Tips On Drug Dealers TIOGA CENTER, N.Y. The first time Steven Steiner tried to fight back against drug dealers poisoning his son and millions of other American teens, he couldn't find the words or the passion. He was just another parent who felt powerless - until his 19-year-old son died from a prescription drug overdose in January 2001. Since then, the 41-year-old electrician has turned into a crusader. He founded Dads and Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers, or DAMMADD. [continues 819 words]
TIOGA CENTER, N.Y. -- The first time Steven Steiner tried to fight back against drug dealers poisoning his son and millions of other American teens, he couldn't find the words or the passion. He was just another parent who felt powerless -- until his 19-year-old son died of a drug overdose in January 2001. Since then, the 41-year-old electrician has founded Dads and Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers, or DAMMADD. "Since Stevie's death, this is how I have a chance to work closer with him, to work together,'' Steiner said. "Believe me, my candle isn't going out any time soon.'' [continues 643 words]
AUBURN -- Facing 60 days in jail, a former county sheriff decided Tuesday to withdraw his guilty plea and face a jury trial on charges he stole $4,000 from a drug task force fund. If convicted by a jury, former Cayuga County Sheriff Peter Pinckney could face up to seven years in state prison. Pinckney pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to third-degree grand larceny, defrauding the government and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. But defense attorney James McGraw warned that Pinckney would renege on the plea deal if it appeared he would have to serve even one day behind bars. [continues 281 words]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) Their small but growing army consists of NRA-members, feminists, doctors, businessmen, ex-cops and a federal judge. They are on the attack against the war against drugs. Instead of the streets, their battlefields are Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis' gatherings and the classroom. Their group is called ReconsiDer and they say drug policies in America, and especially in New York, have been an abysmal failure and should be dumped. "We should have learned from Prohibition that criminal sanctions don't work," semiretired U.S. District Judge John T. Curtin says to nearly 200 business and civic leaders at a recent Thursday Morning Roundtable, a weekly breakfast lecture hosted by Syracuse University. [continues 1047 words]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) The FBI obtains convictions in just one in four cases, the worst average among major federal law enforcement agencies, according to a new study of Justice Department statistics. From 1993 through 1997, the FBI referred 222,504 cases for prosecution. Only 27 percent resulted in a conviction, said researchers at Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC. In about one-third of cases the FBI referred, federal prosecutors declined to take action because of weak or insufficient evidence, or after deciding there was minimal or no federal interest. [continues 458 words]
RUTLAND, N.Y. (AP) — The 80 cows in the barn once were John Garvin's joy and livelihood. Then, they became his curse. Now, they are his ruin. The 31-year-old farmer sits in jail on charges that he starved to death 47 cows and neglected dozens of others that were found barely alive earlier this month, standing in frozen, ankle-deep manure on the barn floor. Veterinarians said the animals had been without food for a month or more. Many of the dead cows had half-born calves. [continues 540 words]
