CROWN POINT | More than 96 percent of Lake Criminal Court defendants charged in drug-related crimes have pleaded their way out of heftier prison time in the last six months, a Times computer-assisted analysis shows.
Illinois resident Elvin Long hacked his potential 149-year prison sentence for dealing cocaine and marijuana to six years with a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana in the first half of this year, court records show.
Randy Warner, who faced two felony charges of dealing cocaine and a misdemeanor count of possessing marijuana, was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to dealing a controlled substance.
The Times analyzed six months of drug-related case dispositions using Lake Criminal Court records and data provided by the Lake County prosecutor's office.
On average, defendants who entered plea agreements with Lake County prosecutors served about half the sentences of defendants who gambled on a jury trial, data shows.
And the pleas don't set well with everyone in law enforcement.
"If 96 percent are able to plea, it sounds to me that the prosecutors are doing as little as possible to get these people to serve the maximum sentence," Hammond police Cpl. Kristopher Howard said.
Thirty-eight of the 153 drug cases disposed between January and June 2008 originated in Hammond, data shows. The highest number, 50, came out of Gary.
Howard said shorter sentences send criminals the wrong message.
"That's an enormous number of people who are getting pleas," he said. "Either the cases aren't air-tight, or the prosecutors aren't willing to do their job ... We're winning the battle in one way by getting these people in the jail, but it should be handled more sternly."
Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter argues that plea agreements are a necessary evil.
"It's impractical for anybody to believe we can try even 20 percent of those cases," he said. "They would have to hire 20 new judges in 20 different courtrooms and build 20 more prisons. The (Indiana) Department of Correction is crying now that they are busting at the seams."
Lake County's percentage of plea agreements filed is consistent with state and national trends, Carter said.
He said his office has taken a "hard line" in cases in which defendants are charged with dealing drugs. His office's policy is to argue for prison time in all dealing cases, he said, adding he was not in favor of giving such offenders any work release or community corrections time.
"It is a disgusting disease that hampers many of our urban areas in particular," Carter said. "The crime in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago is directly attributable to the drugs on our streets."
He said his office encourages police departments to catch dealers conducting multiple buys to ensure harsher sentences.
Defendants who pleaded guilty were sentenced to an average 4.3-year sentence -- including all jail, prison, probation and alternative sentencing, The Times analysis shows.
Defendants found guilty by jury faced an average of 8.1 years, most of which is to be served in prison.
