NCJ Number
121832
Journal
Washington City Paper Volume: 9 Issue: 50 Dated: (December 15-20, 1989) Pages: 28-33
Date Published
1989
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The touted presidential drug policy of "zero tolerance" was applied to Keith Jackson, the young black man set up for a crack arrest in Lafayette Park to give President Bush a prop for his speech on September 5, 1989, but it was ignored in the lenient handling of significant drug traffickers who had been paid CIA informants.
Abstract
As an illustration of the seriousness of the Nation's drug problem, President Bush held up 3 ounces of crack seized in a DEA drug buy in a park across from the White House. The buy was arranged precisely for the purpose of providing a prop for the President's speech. Stanley Sporkin, the judge in the case, refused to set bail for Keith Jackson, labeling him a threat to the community. This is the same Stanley Sporkin who worked at the Central Intelligence Agency in the mid-1980's and implemented the executive branch policy of protecting selected drug entrepreneurs who were paid CIA informants. Two such entrepreneurs, A.J. Maillis and Guillermo Tabraue, were released and received a plea bargain deal to a significantly lesser charge. The executive branch of the Federal Government enforces its zero tolerance for drug trafficking only when the persons involved have no political influence.