Judge skips guidelines, releases man in crack case

Judge skips guidelines, releases man in crack case
Long prison sentence hurts blacks, she says
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | November 21, 2007


A federal judge has freed a Boston man who pleaded guilty to selling small amounts of crack cocaine, saying that he dealt the drugs out of desperation and that long prison sentences for such crimes often do more harm to black communities than good.

US District Judge Nancy Gertner sentenced Myles Haynes to the 13 months he has served in jail since his arrest. She said that he appeared to be an honest man whose two admitted drug sales were isolated and that lengthy federal prison terms for such crimes are depleting cities of a generation of young black men.

"Isn't it time for us to say that there is on the one hand the impact of the drug trafficking and on the other hand the impact of mass incarceration of African-Americans from crack cocaine?" Gertner said from the bench Monday. "To suggest that the public safety requires the further incarceration of Mr. Haynes makes no sense."

Gertner then set aside sentencing guidelines that could have kept Haynes behind bars an extra 20 to 28 months. While federal judges sometimes depart from guidelines, it is rare for them to air such outspoken views from the bench.

Glancing at Haynes's 8-year-old son, Myles Jr., in the gallery with the defendant's family, Gertner added, "Indeed, when I see your son, I think that public safety requires that you be with your son so that he doesn't follow in your footsteps."

US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan criticized the sentence by Gertner, a Clinton-era appointee who has often accused the US Department of Justice of pursuing ex cessive federal prison sentences for nonviolent offenders.

"Mr. Haynes is a grown man who had options and opportunities for a better life," Sullivan said in a written statement.
"Yet he chose to deal crack cocaine and made life decisions that adversely affected and endangered the decent people who call Bromley-Heath their home," Sullivan added, in a reference to the development in Jamaica Plain, where Haynes was living at the time.

However, the judge received praise from Sullivan's predecessor, Donald K. Stern, who co-wrote a recent opinion piece with Gertner in the Globe saying that overly long sentences in many street crimes are counterproductive.

"Some people belong in prison; there's no alternative," Stern said in an interview. "But I think what Nancy is raising is, one ought not to assume that everybody fits into the same box."

The Rev. Jeffrey L. Brown - a leader of the Boston Ten-Point Coalition, and antiviolence group - agreed.
"I've never heard a federal judge point out what she pointed out," said Brown, who is pastor of Union Baptist Church in Cambridge. "It's not to say that I don't believe in law and order. But I also know from working every day in the streets that things are much more complex than a single arrest and conviction."

Haynes, 37, is one of 23 individuals who were charged last year after a six-month investigation by the FBI and Boston police of cocaine sales at the Bromley-Heath housing development.

He sold an informant a small wrapper with 1.8 grams of crack cocaine May 11 last year and then sold a slightly smaller amount five days later, authorities said. Both sales totaled $380 and took place inside the development, where Haynes grew up.

His lawyer, Jessica Hedges, said the total amount of cocaine equaled the contents of three or four packets of Sweet'N Low.

Haynes, who was held at the Plymouth County jail after his arrest, pleaded guilty in July to selling cocaine in a public housing project and aiding and abetting.

Even prosecutors said he was not a typical drug dealer. Haynes graduated from Newton North High School, which he attended through the Metco desegregation program.

He enlisted in the US Marines after high school but was injured and discharged after several months of basic training, according to a memorandum by Hedges. He enrolled in a community college in 1993 but withdrew to work to support a daughter.

Before the drug charges, Haynes's criminal record revolved around a 1998 incident for which he was convicted of several charges, including assault with intent to kill and possession of a firearm, said Assistant US Attorney John A. Wortmann Jr.

Neither side gave details. But Hedges said that the incident happened at a New Year's Eve party and that the relatively short sentence, one year in jail, indicated mitigating circumstances.

Since his release, Haynes has held a variety of jobs, including as a maintenance worker for New England Medical Center and an assistant manager for a City Sports store, said Gertner. The month after the cocaine sales, he completed training sponsored by Boston Emergency Medical Services to become a basic emergency medical technician.

Around the same time, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. offered him a job but rescinded it because of his criminal record.

But Wortmann said Haynes's actions reveal a dark side. As a result of his record, he had to meet in the spring last year with a psychiatrist to see if he was suitable to become an emergency medical technician.

"At the same time he's meeting with a psychiatrist to demonstrate that he's not a danger to the community, he's selling crack cocaine in the housing project in which he grew up," Wortmann said.

Hedges said Haynes had struggled to find a job. She also said that while he was in jail in June, he used his emergency medical training to treat an inmate who had a diabetic seizure.

Haynes, for his part, apologized to his community and family.
"I made some desperate choices, and that's the way I chose," he said. "The solution wasn't the right one."