ALL STAR 2011 - Ozone Magazine

How did you learn how to read?One A-B-C at a time. My cellmate convincedme that I could read. When I got my indictment,I wanted to know what was on my indictment.I never told my lawyer that I couldn’tread until after I learned to read. He gave methree pieces of paper and said, “Here’s yourindictment. Read it and it explains everythingyou need to know about your case.” That wasthe first piece of paper I ever read – my indictment.Why were you illiterate? Would you say theschool system failed you?That was part of it. The school system was partof it and my mom was part of it. You knowwhat they say, it takes a community to raise achild. And I failed myself. It was my responsibilityto get what I needed and make surethat I could read and function. I didn’t find itimportant in the trades that I was looking at:robbery, burglary, stealing cars, pimpin’ – whydo you need to know how to read?Getting a “regular” job was never an option?I didn’t see myself doing that. I didn’t knowanybody that had a regular job. I grew up onFigueroa, which was the hoe stroll. My friendsdidn’t “work.”And you didn’t think that those career paths– robbery, burglary, stealing cars, or pimpin’– would have a negative outcome?Nah, that was a part of my neighborhood.A kid can become his environment. If you’rearound crime, at first you might shy away fromit, but if you stay around it long enough, prettysoon you’re accustomed to it. That’s why drugsare so accepted in our neighborhoods. Thereason it’s so hard for a drug dealer to quit isbecause his neighborhood doesn’t despisehim. It’s attractive. People look up to you whenyou’re a drug dealer.You’re rewarded for it.Right. You get to go to VIP. You get all the girls.Everything a person wants can come from sellingdrugs, so why wouldn’t people sell drugs?What’s the deterrent?I would think a potential life sentence wouldbe a deterrent.Well, they don’t know about the jail time. Mostof them don’t know about the Feds until it’stoo late. These kids don’t know anything aboutthe Feds and the mandatory minimums.Do you think the mandatory minimums arean effective deterrent?Absolutely not. Totally a waste of time. I’mworking on reforming the laws. I’ve teamedup with the NAACP and we’re gonna start aprogram to reform the mandatory minimumsentences, not only in the Feds but in the state[judicial] systems as well.You don’t think that lowering the mandatoryminimum sentences would encourage morepeople to get into the drug business?Well, [the mandatory minimums] haven’tstopped drug dealing, we know that. Weknow drugs are more plentiful on our streets.We have more people in prison. So it hasn’tworked for the past 40 years.How would lowering the sentences help?We’re not saying right off the bat that it willhelp, but we’re saying it won’t hurt. Becauseit isn’t working. Throwing people in prisonand throwing away the key absolutely doesn’twork. I believe we have to come up withprograms that really work. We have to startaddressing the issues that are at the root, andthat’s lack of knowledge and lack of opportunities.These laws have nothing to do with that. Ibelieve we should go with an ounce of preventioninstead of a pound of cure. That’s what ourgovernment is doing now – throwing poundsand pounds of cures on a problem that for 45or 50 years has been a waste of money. Thedrug problem is worse than it’s ever been.Murder rates are up. Snitchin’ is up.Do you think the government has been goingto war against the wrong people? Shouldthey be targeting the user and focusing moreon prevention instead of locking up thedealers?[The government] should focus on the userand try to prevent people from using. Locking[dealers] up is just not the key. This isnot a criminal offense. It’s a victimless crime,because nobody is gonna come in and testifyand say, “He stuck a gun in my face and robbedme.” There’s never gonna be a victim in these[drug] cases, so they’re gonna have somebodywho’s in trouble already and decided to snitchcome in and testify and say he saw you dosomething to somebody that’s never gonnacome to court. Then he’s gonna get off so hecan go out and sell drugs again, so it’s just aperpetuation of the problem. Incarcerationis definitely not the answer. We’re spendingbillions and billions of dollars every year onincarcerating [convicted drug dealers]. Justto take me to court cost [the taxpayers] $3million dollars. Just to take me to court! Thenthey kept me in prison at $40,000 a year for 20years. And when you take a drug dealer off thestreets, how many other drug dealers come in74 // OZONE MAG