Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) Copyright: 2000, The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. Contact: PO Box 59038, Knoxville, TN 37950-9038 Website: http://www.knoxnews.com/ Forum: http://forums.knoxnews.com/cgi-bin/WebX?knoxnews Author: Laura Ayo, DRUG DEALER WILL HAVE TO WAIT IN PRISON TO FIND DONOR FOR KIDNEY If Jeffery Louis "Trick" Minor is lucky enough to hear that a match has been found for a kidney transplant he needs, he'll get word in a federal prison cell. U.S. District Judge Leon Jordan decided Tuesday the convicted drug dealer has to report today to begin serving a six-year prison sentence in Springfield, Mo. "I think the government and the court have already gone the extra mile at least two times," Jordan said. "It's in the best interest of everyone concerned that the defendant go ahead and report (today)." Minor, 40, has been free on a $10,000 bond since the judge imposed the sentence in December 1998. In that time, he's been looking for a kidney donor without success. Medical professionals have told him he's not likely to find a match outside his own family, and no matches have been viable within his family so far. His lawyer, Daniel McGehee, urged Jordan to let Minor continue on the bond until a niece and nephew -- who were in court -- could be tested to see if they can be donors. The process, court papers show, would take about a month. "If they can be tested and have a match, they're willing to donate a kidney," McGehee said. "These are two people who have concern for their uncle." McGehee said if Minor went to prison now, it would be more difficult to get him out for a transplant surgery. Minor also undergoes dialysis regularly. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugh Ward opposed McGehee's "11th-hour" request, saying prisons are supposed to be difficult to get out of once convicted felons go there. "Just as Mr. Minor has been arduously trying to find a donor, we've been just as arduously bending over backwards to accommodate that," he said. Ward said the testing could take place while Minor is serving his sentence. "He will not be denied a donor," Ward said. "The delay has been too long. We have come to the end of our willingness to accommodate." U.S. Probation Officer Myra Melton said the transplant could be done while Minor is in custody, but that he or his family will have to pay for it. "If he has the transplant, with follow-up care, it may be a year before he can go back to prison," she said. Minor pleaded guilty Feb. 21, 1997, to conspiracy to possess and distribute large quantities of cocaine between 1992 and June 1996 in the Knoxville area. He was arrested in June 1996 after U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents caught him in a transaction involving several kilograms of cocaine. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk