Pubdate: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 Source: Birmingham News, The (AL) Copyright: 2003 The Birmingham News Contact: http://al.com/birminghamnews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/45 Author: Brett J. Blackledge, News staff writer LOW-LEVEL CROOKS TOP PAROLE PLAN Nonviolent Thieves, Drug Offenders Focus of Early Release Proposal Randy Reid sold less than a half a gram of crack to an undercover police officer in June 2001 and ended up going to prison for 12 years. The 36-year-old roofer hadn't been in prison before, didn't have a weapon on him when he was arrested and didn't have a violent criminal history. He made the serious mistake of selling drugs on Birmingham's First Avenue North, just a few miles from at least seven public schools and two public housing complexes. The location of his crime alone added 10 years to his sentence. Now Reid serves his time with the Department of Corrections at Decatur Work Release, along with more than 400 other inmates packed inside the center designed to hold 128. Reid and thousands of other Alabama prisoners serving time for nonviolent offenses could get out of prison early under Gov. Bob Riley's plan to expand the state Board of Pardons and Paroles and to hire more parole officers. Riley has said the early release of 5,000 or more nonviolent offenders next year is necessary because voters turned down his $1.2 billion tax plan. Attorney General Bill Pryor has warned that Alabamians should consider buying guns to protect themselves from criminals who could be released into their neighborhoods. But the early release proposal is not a new idea hastily pulled together to cope with the state's financial problems. It's part of a larger plan laid out over the past - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake