Police: Suspected drug dealer violated DA's deal

He didn't heed the warning.

Like 12 other suspected drug dealers in Hempstead, Jasen .Thompson had the chance to stay out of jail when he accepted Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice's go-straight-or-go-straight-to-jail offer earlier this year. But when Thompson couldn't stay straight, he couldn't stay free, Rice said Thursday.

Thompson, 27, became the first participant in Rice's anti-drug plan to be caught breaking the terms of the deal Wednesday when Hempstead police arrested him for smoking marijuana, police said.

Thompson, of 100 Terrace Ave., pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana in First District Court in Hempstead.

Under typical circumstances, the misdemeanor count carries a penalty of up to 90 days in jail. But Thompson isn't in a typical situation.

Because of his involvement in Rice's plan, Thompson also faces three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and up to 27 years in prison.

"I keep my promises and the message was clear," Rice said. "I told them from the start that the community was going to take this neighborhood back, with or without them."

On Jan. 8, Thompson and 12 other suspected drug dealers caught on undercover video peddling narcotics accepted Rice's controversial deal on the following terms: Walk away from a life of crime and avoid jail time. If you don't and you are arrested, you will be charged with that crime and the sting video will be evidence used to prosecute the drug case.

In Thompson's case, the video shows him selling crack cocaine three times in August 2007, Rice said.

Rice emphasized that her program's primary focus is to eradicate the chronic drug programs on Terrace Avenue and Bedell Street, and not to rehabilitate individual drug dealers.

Despite the arrest, Inez Dingle, a Hempstead community activist, said the program has helped keep drug dealing and other crime in check.

Gary DelaRaba, Nassau's police union president, has criticized Rice's plan but applauded her effort. He said she has to keep her word to the community and prosecute Thompson on the felony drug charges.

"As much as I'm not 100 percent behind it, if she doesn't take the action she promised, no one else is going to take her seriously," he said.

Rice said crime in the area has gotten better but said it was too early for statistics to show that. She said more needs to be done, but patience is required.

"We are trying to undo decades of a drug culture that has existed since the 1960s," she said. "That is not going to happen overnight."

Police said Thompson, who is being held on bail of $600,000 bond or $300,000 cash, threw away his second chance after officers caught him smoking marijuana in the hallway of the apartment complex where he lived.

"He blew an opportunity of a lifetime," Hempstead Police Chief Joseph Wing said.

By BY MICHAEL FRAZIER
Posted Sunday, March 16, 2008

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