Published: May 05, 2008 07:54 pm            

Drug conviction of Ashland man sent back for resentencing

DES MOINES, Iowa — After being instructed by the U.S. Supreme Court to review the drug conviction of a man arrested in Iowa, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday sent the case back to a lower court for resentencing.

Craig Allen Thomas, of Ashland, Ky., was convicted of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

The St. Louis-based court initially affirmed the conviction and 250-month sentence. However, Thomas asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, and the high court vacated the 8th Circuit Court’s ruling and sent the case back for further consideration.

According to court records, in May 2005 Cedar Rapids police were looking for a suspect in a Chicago shooting death who was said to be traveling through Iowa. Three officers met the bus the man was believed to be on and as Thomas got off the bus, the officers stopped him saying he matched a photograph they had of the suspect.

Authorities said Thomas initially lied about his name, giving officers his brother’s name. Officers eventually learned his name and he was arrested on an outstanding warrant and for providing false information to police.

During a search, officers found 241.8 grams of crack cocaine.

Thomas argued that the officers knew early on that he was not the murder suspect and should not have held him for further questioning. He also said that the arrest was a racially motivated stop in search of drugs, and during a hearing contradicted officers’ accounts.

The district court enhanced his sentence saying that the testimony was an obstruction of justice and that Thomas’s statements were made “in an attempt to put some flesh on that bald assertion” that the arrest was racially motivated.

Thomas asked the district court to give him a lesser sentence than the advisory guideline which recommended a range of 236 to 293 months.

He maintained that the disparity between crack and powder cocaine in the federal sentencing guidelines has an “unjust effect on crack cocaine offenders.” The district court did not vary from the advisory guidelines and imposed a 250-month sentence.

The U.S. Supreme Court told the 8th Circuit to further consider the case based on an earlier court ruling, which said courts may reduce sentences from the guidelines because of the disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses.

        

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