Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/ Pubdate: Wed, 20 May 1998 Author: Cynthia Hubert Bee Staff Writer NOTORIOUS PAIR FAIL TO AVERT DRUG TRIAL Judge rips agents, but won't dismiss charges A federal judge in Sacramento declined Tuesday to dismiss charges against two notorious drug dealers, even though he concluded that state agents engaged in "outrageous" conduct in an effort to target the men. U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton said he was tempted to let the dealers go free in an effort to deter "further governmental illegal conduct," but decided it would be unwise to "reward" the defendants because the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agents broke the law. Under the circumstances, Karlton said, "a dismissal makes no sense." "It appears to this court to be inappropriate to reward criminal co-conspirators with a dismissal in order to deter the law enforcement co-conspirators," he said. "Society was the victim of this conspiracy, and dismissal would simply inflict further injury on society." Defense lawyers said they would appeal Karlton's decision. "If the ruling had come down in our favor, law enforcement agents across the country would think twice" before putting large amounts of the key ingredient to make methamphetamine on the streets, said Robert Wilson, who represents one of the defendants. "This decision tells them it's OK to pollute the public, if the end justifies the means." But prosecutor Nancy Simpson said the agents followed internal regulations and performed the "reverse sting" operation with "a lot of consideration and thought" about the public's welfare. "There are a limited number of ways in which you, as a narcotics agent, can effectively investigate these types of cases," she emphasized. The case centers on the conduct of officers in a sting operation targeting Michael and Erwin Spruth, described as two of the most prolific methamphetamine manufacturers in Northern California. Each had two previous convictions for drug manufacturing. Defense lawyers argued during a hearing on the matter last month that the agents put the men back in business after they got out of prison in 1995 by supplying them with more than 100 pounds of ephedrine, the key ingredient used to manufacture methamphetamine. The agents failed to track diligently the chemicals, which ultimately were used to make "crank" that was sold on the streets, according to the lawyers. Agents said they did everything possible to track the chemicals while homing in on a lab site operated by the Spruths. Simpson, the agents' lawyer, argued that they followed the bureau's regulations, which allow "precursors" such as ephedrine to be furnished to criminal suspects during clandestine laboratory investigations. Agents involved in the case received commendations for their handling of the matter. But Karlton said the agents showed disdain for their own rules, which were designed to protect the public, because they were "bedazzled by the goal of arresting these particular wrongdoers." At a minimum, he said, they "aided and abetted" the making and selling of methamphetamine. "Given the fact that the agents received money rather than drugs," he said, they could "be viewed as having conspired to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, both crimes." But the defendants, he said, "were simply not victims." "It follows that they do not enjoy standing to assert the government's outrageous conduct as a defense," he concluded. "The bottom line in this proceeding is that the irresponsible behavior of these officers will have no consequences," the judge lamented. "It is the height of naivete to believe that the court's expression of concern will affect their conduct in any way. Nonetheless, under the circumstances, the court sees no alternative." Copyright ) 1998 The Sacramento Bee - --- Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)