Pubdate: Tue, 26 Nov 2002
Source: Huntsville Times (AL)
Copyright: 2002 The Huntsville Times
Contact:  http://www.htimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/730
Author: David Holden, Times Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

MAN GETS LIFE TERM OVER 3 LBS. OF MAILED MARIJUANA

Package With Bogus Return Address Sent To Defendant's Girlfriend

A bogus return address on a package that was mailed from Southern 
California almost two years ago landed a Huntsville man in prison with a 
life sentence last week.

A jury convicted Joseph P. Hart, 25, of Oakdale Circle on Wednesday of 
trafficking in 3 pounds of marijuana.

Assistant District Attorney Don Rizzardi said the case originated in 
California in December 2000 after a postal inspector was alerted about a 
package with a bogus return address. The forwarding address belonged to an 
apartment on Winchester Road in Huntsville, Rizzardi said.

The California postal inspector obtained permission from a federal court 
judge there to open the package, Rizzardi said. He found 3 pounds of 
marijuana inside and called a postal inspector in Huntsville, he said.

The Huntsville postal inspector asked for the package to be sent here, 
Rizzardi said. When it arrived, he called the Huntsville Police 
Department's Organized Crime Unit.

The postal inspector dressed as a letter carrier delivered the package to 
the Winchester Road address, Rizzardi said. About 20 minutes later, Hart 
arrived, he said.

He was detained by police as he was leaving the apartment. When police 
searched Hart, the officers discovered he didn't have the package. But he 
had a measuring scale that could weigh up to four ounces. He also had an 
empty plastic sandwich bag in his pocket, Rizzardi said.

Police investigator Jim Winn testified that he and the other officers 
believed the contents of Hart's pockets gave them reasons to hold him.

Inside the apartment, Hart told police that he and a friend had the package 
delivered to the apartment on Winchester Road, Rizzardi said. They were 
going to divide the marijuana into smaller parcels.

Hart testified during his trial that the package was sent to the apartment 
by an acquaintance named Roger in California. "Roger" was trying to keep a 
Christmas present secret from his own girlfriend, here in Huntsville, and 
he wanted an address where he could send the gift, Hart testified.

Rizzardi told the jury that Hart arranged for the man in California to mail 
the package to Hart's girlfriend, Katherine Cutts, at the apartment on 
Winchester Road. Hart's name was not on the package, and Cutts was to sign 
using the false name on the package, Karen Smith, he said.

The police never caught "Roger," Rizzardi said. Neither Cutts nor Hart 
cooperated with police by revealing the location or identity of Roger.

Cutts, who testified in court for the prosecution about her involvement in 
the case, was originally charged with trafficking in marijuana but was 
granted youthful offender status. The trafficking charge will not show up 
on her record.

The police formally charged Hart with trafficking marijuana on Dec. 15, 
2000. He was indicted by a grand jury in May 2001. He was free during the 
trial in lieu of $5,000 bail.

After a daylong trial, the jury deliberated three hours before returning 
the verdict. Hart has two prior felony convictions from 1997 on charges of 
first-degree assault and possession of cocaine, Rizzardi said.

Circuit Judge Loyd H. Little Jr. sentenced Hart to life in prison as a 
repeat offender and ordered him to pay a $25,000 fine. He will be eligible 
for parole in 10 years, Rizzardi said.

Hart is in the Madison County Jail waiting to be moved to a state prison 
facility. An appeal bond is not available for anyone who is sentenced to 20 
years or more.
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