Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 27, 1991 TAG: 9103270455
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Attorney General Dick Thornburgh ordered U.S. attorneys on Tuesday to identify the most violent felons in their districts who could be prosecuted under federal firearms laws as well as state criminal statutes.
Aides to Thornburgh denied that the effort was an attempt to counter mounting support in Congress for handgun control legislation.
The attorney general ordered federal prosecutors to "target the most violent offenders in each community and put them away for hard time in federal prisons."
In a speech to U.S. attorneys gathered in Savannah, Ga., Thornburgh vowed that under "Project Triggerlock" the Justice Department would bring the "full force of federal sentences with commitment to no plea bargaining."
Federal firearms statutes provide for lengthy sentences for repeat felons convicted of possessing or using guns. These laws can be used to add prison time to sentences criminals receive for state convictions, Justice Department officials said.
Under the 1984 Armed Career Criminal Act, a defendant with three previous convictions for violent or drug-related felonies must be sentenced to 15 years in prison if convicted of possessing a handgun.
There is also a five-year mandatory sentence for felons convicted of using a gun to commit a drug crime. Convicted felons found guilty of possessing a firearm can be sentenced up to 10 years in prison.
Thornburgh also announced a model "clean-sweep" program "to remove violent predators and drug dealers from the target area" in six cities to be selected.
Federal money would be used to assist local police and rebuild the neighborhood. Thornburgh did not say how much had been earmarked.
The Justice Department has held preliminary discussions with the Department of Housing and Urban Development about using federal money for neighborhood redevelopment, said Associate Deputy Attorney General Andrew McBride.
The stepped-up prosecution of firearms crimes is modeled on programs from several U.S. attorneys' offices, notably in Detroit and Philadelphia.
In Detroit, federal prosecutors working with local authorities in eastern Michigan have nearly quadrupled the number of federal firearms convictions since 1988.
There were 109 convictions in 1988 and 369 last year, said Ross Parker, chief assistant to U.S. Attorney Stephen Markman.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Robert Bucknam denied that Thornburgh's order was intended to blunt mounting support for the so-called Brady Bill, which is opposed by the Bush administration.
The measure, named after James Brady, the presidential press secretary who was severely wounded by the gunman who also shot President Reagan in 1981, would require a seven-day waiting period for all firearms purchases.
by CNB