Pubdate: Fri, 19 Dec 2003
Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV)
Copyright: 2003 Charleston Daily Mail
Contact:  http://www.dailymail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76
Author: Toby Coleman, Daily Mail staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?118 (Perjury)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

FEDERAL JUDGE TO RECONSIDER DRUG SENTENCES

Witnesses say they were told to lie about amounts

A federal judge says he will look into allegations that a Charleston police 
officer told key witnesses to lie on the stand in federal court.

The move, announced Wednesday, is intended to resolve questions surrounding 
the 1999 sentencing hearings of drug kingpins Calvin Dyess, Orange Dyess 
and Eric D. Spencer.

Three key witnesses at the hearings, including Calvin Dyess' ex-wife, say 
Cpl. William Hart urged them to inflate the amount of drugs handled by the 
men. Dyess' ex-wife, Rachel Ursula Rader, was having an affair with Hart 
and later married him.

She brought forth the perjury allegations in 2001 when she was in the 
process of divorcing Hart.

The testimony of Rader and two others was key for prosecutors because 
federal judges plug the drug amounts into a formula that helps determine 
the sentences for people convicted of drug-related offences.

Calvin Dyess was sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to deal drugs 
and launder money; Orange Dyess was sentenced to more than 19-and-a-half 
years in prison for maintaining a drug distribution center; and Spencer was 
sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison for drug conspiracy.

In his order scheduling an evidentiary hearing on the matter next March, 
U.S. District Judge Charles Haden wrote that he can't tell whether any of 
the witnesses actually committed perjury during the sentencing hearings. 
But to assure himself "that the sentences imposed were based on truthful 
testimony and accurate accounts," he said he will look into the matter.

"To do otherwise could shake the public's confidence that the sentences 
imposed were lawful, fair, just and principled," he wrote.

Allegations of perjury were first brought forward by Rader in December 
2001. She said Hart, who she was in the process of divorcing at the time, 
told her to lie about cooking crack in Spencer's apartment and told her 
what to say during the Dyess' sentencing hearing.

Since then, at least one other witness' testimony has been called into 
question.

Federal prosecutors also are looking into allegations that Hart gave Rader 
thousands of dollars of seized drug money.

In February 1999, Rader claims she turned over about $80,000 of Calvin 
Dyess' hidden cash to Hart. She says she let him keep about $27,000.

Hart, who turned over about $41,000 of the money to the federal government, 
says Rader gave him about $41,000 and contends he only let her keep about 
$200 or $300. Hart remains an officer with the Charleston Police Department.
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