THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 40 lines
The two presidential candidates have been arguing for months about who will be tougher on drugs if elected. That's a lot of verbiage.
In reality, local juries and judges have the real power to send unmistakable messages to drug dealers - loudly and clearly - that drugs will not be tolerated in their communities.
A Virginia Beach jury did just that in June when it sentenced 27-year-old Eugene Smalls to 90 years in prison and fined him $1 million for bringing a kilo of crack cocaine into Virginia in 1995.
Circuit Judge Kenneth N. Whitehurst this week upheld that sentence, despite the fact that the sentence was about 83 years longer than the recommended voluntary sentencing guidelines.
This judge and this jury have done locally what cannot be done as effectively in Washington: They showed no mercy for a convicted drug dealer who was prepared to peddle addiction and death to local people.
Although the jury didn't know it at the time it recommended the sentence, Smalls was part of a ruthless drug gang in the Virgin Islands. According to a story by staff writer Jon Frank, Smalls and two of his brothers cornered the crack trade in St. Thomas through murder, witness intimidation and bomb threats before moving their operation to Virginia two years ago.
A picture of Smalls and one of his brothers holding fistfuls of dollars and chatting on a wireless phone was confiscated when Smalls was arrested, and was published in this newspaper.
Smalls is now where he belongs - behind bars.
And his sentence will undoubtedly grow. Smalls and other members of his gang have recently been convicted in federal court on additional drug charges. They face sentences of up to life in prison when they are formally sentenced in federal court in December.
In the meantime, let the word ring out from Virginia Beach to any drug dealers contemplating a move - get caught importing drugs here and you will spend most of your life in a Virginia prison. by CNB