Political Children Arrested for Drugs Who Got Special Treatment

Everyone who has (or had) a child in prison for drugs should be outraged by the double standard that applies in this country when the very politicians who voted for harsh sentencing laws use their clout to secure a special deal for their own children when they get caught with drugs.

For this reason alone – the drug war must be abolished.

The #1 spot is a triple whammy, because all three received special treatment – including Jeb and George W. Bush who enjoyed plenty of illegal drugs, even though it was their father, then President George H.W. Bush who used the drug war as his presidential campaign platform and revived draconian mandatory minimums and conspiracy laws that put minor drug offenders in prison for up to 20-LIFE – many of whom are featured on the CAN-DO website.  We will never forget the suffering that has been inflicted upon countless American citizens by the hypocritical Bush dynasty and those who voted for harsh drug laws – including many on this list.  Moreover, President H.W. Bush and Jeb Bush accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Leonel Martinez, a major drug dealer.  Even after they learned of his criminal behavior, they never returned those funds.  Read The Novice and the Kingpin for more details of malfeasance by the Bush administration, including a controlled buy for crack cocaine that was intentionally orchestrated so President H.W. Bush could hold up a bag of crack cocaine, supposedly purchased across the street from the White House, a classic Harry J Anslinger tactic to create hysteria and grow both the drug war and prison industrial complex.

1.  Jeb Bush, son of President George H.W. Bush  Although he was never arrested – he snitched out his partner to save himself –  a policy that became common under the Bush administration’s DOJ that enhanced sentences on anyone indicted for drugs who went to trial.

The allegations against Jeb Bush stem from an article written by John LeBoutillier, a former Republican congressman and currently a co-host of Fox News Channel’s Political Insiders. Under the title “The Jeb Bush Illegal Drug and Liquor Distributorship at Andover,” LeBoutillier wrote that…

“Jeb Bush and one other fellow student back then ran an illegal drug and liquor distributorship on the Andover campus. When the heat started coming down, Bush ratted out the partner to the school authorities and saved his own skin. Jeb got away with it, was never caught, never punished, graduated unscathed and went on to the University of Texas at Austin.”  Read this article: Jeb Bush Plans To Run For President As Drug Dealing Charges Emerge

2. Noelle Bush, daughter of Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) Niece of President George W. Bush

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s daughter Noelle was sentenced to 10 days in the Orange County Jail on October 17, 2002 by Circuit Judge Reginald Whitehead. Although Whitehead did not discuss the reason for her jailing in open court, it was clear that the sanctions came as the result of a Sept. 9 incident in whichcrack cocaine was found in her show while undergoing drug treatment at the Center for Drug Free Living, police reported. Noelle Bush was accompanied by her aunt, Dorothy Cook of Bethesda, Md., as well as her two attorneys. She was led away in handcuffs to be booked into the jail. Before Whitehead issued his order, Bush said, “Judge Whitehead, I sincerely apologize for what happened, and I promise to do well at the Center for Drug-Free Living.” Whitehead told Bush that he was disappointed in her but he added he believed she could complete drug treatment successfully and was allowing her to stay in the program. “I want you to have some time to think and reflect on this,” Whitehead said. “You should be disappointed that you let yourself down.” The judge added that she hoped Bush learned a lesson. “You have to learn from your mistake,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for yourself to see if you can do well.” Bush was placed in the drug court system after she was accused of trying to use a fake prescription to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in Tallahassee in January. Prior to Noelle Bush’s sentencing an Orange County circuit judge denied a request from attorneys to close drug-court proceedings to the public.

Judge that oversaw Noelle’s rehab received $900,000 from state gov’t grants to a charity he was on the board of while Jeb Bush was Governor of Florida. Read more about it on Daily Mail:

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3. Dan Burton, II (18), son of Representative Dan Burton (R-IN)

Burton was busted in January of 1994 on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Allegedly, Burton II was transporting seven pounds of marijuana in a car from Texas to Indiana when he was caught in Louisiana. Burton II plead guilty to felony charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Rather than face ten to sixteen months in federal prison, Burton was sentenced to five years probation, 2000 hours of community service, three years of house arrest and random drug screening. Five month later police found 30 marijuana plants and a shotgun in Burton’s apartment in Indianapolis. Under federal mandatory minimum rules, Burton should have received at least five years in federal prison, plus a year or more for arrest while on probation. State prosecutors decided that the total weight of marijuana from the 30 plants was 25 grams (about one ounce), thus reducing the charge to a misdemeanor. The Indiana prosecutor threw out all the charges against him saying, “I didn’t see any sense in putting him on probation a second time.”
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999

4. John Murtha (35), son of Representative John Murtha (D-PA)

Murtha received a sentence of 11 to 23 months in jail after pleading guilty to selling a gram of cocaine to an informant. Murtha has been busted for two burglaries in 1980 and for armed robbery in 1985. Murtha was on parole at the time of his arrest and could have faced more than ten years in prison if he’d been prosecuted under federal guidelines. The judge hearing Murtha’s case allowed him to temporarily withdraw a plea bargain and resubmit it at later date so he could enter the jail’s school-release program and continue his education.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999

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5. Al Gore III (13), son of Vice President Al Gore (D)

Gore was caught smoking what appeared to be marijuana by school authorities at St. Alban’s School. Al III was suspended as a result of the incident. While the story appeared in the foreign press, the story was suppressed in the US media. London’s Daily Telegraph charged, “The crusading American media and Washington’s political elite have closed ranks to protect Vice President Gore from embarrassment over his teenage son’s indiscretion.”
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999

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6. Claude Shelby (32), youngest son of Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Shelby was arrested at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport on drug charges, where a US Custom’s drug-sniffing dog found 13.8 grams of hashish in his possession. Shelby was given a $500 administrative penalty and turned over to Clayton County Sheriff’s Department for prosecution.
Source: USA Today; 7/29/98

On July 24, authorities at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport arrested Claude Shelby, the youngest son of U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R_AL), for possession of 13.8 grams of hashish. Claude Shelby, 32, is married and has one child. Sen. Shelby is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
(“Drug Charge,” USA Today, July 29, 1998, p. 6A).

U.S. Customs Service inspectors found the hashish in Shelby’s possession using a drug_sniffing dog. Shelby, who had arrived on a flight from London, was issued a $500 fine, which he paid on the spot. He was then turned over to the Clayton County Sheriff’s Department for state prosecution.

Responding to the incident, Sen. Richard Shelby responded that he and his family were “shocked and saddened” by the charge but that he would “stand by him through this difficult ordeal.” The senior Shelby added, “My position on fighting drugs is well known. It continues to be a priority for me regardless of personal circumstances.”

“The senator may find it hard to be stoic if his drug_fighting colleagues in the House have their way,” said Monica Pratt, communications director for Families Against Mandatory Minimums, in an op_ed in the Atlanta Constitution. Pratt was referring to the “Drug Importer Death Penalty Act” (HR 41), introduced by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R_GA), which would mandate a life sentence without parole for offenders who import “100 usual dosage amounts” of a controlled substance, and a death sentence for such offenders with a prior conviction for a similar drug offense . The measure does not define what amounts constitute “100 usual dosages.” Pratt said, “Under this broad definition, Claude Shelby’s 13.8 grams of hashish could be enough to qualify him for life imprisonment (Monica Pratt, “Congress comes into the courtroom,” Atlanta Constitution, August 12, 1998). The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines provide that 1 gram of hashish is the equivalent of 5 grams of marijuana and that 1 gram of marijuana is two doses.

“Luckily for the senior Shelby, he will not know the pain of visiting his son in prison for the rest of his life. . .Perhaps his son’s brush with the law will convince the senator that life_and_death sentencing policies are not trifling matters to be bandied about during election_year politicking,” said Pratt.

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7. Morgan Grams (21), son of Senator Rod Grams (R-MN).

Grams “was stopped in July in a borrowed rental vehicle after his father called the Anoka County sheriff for help finding his son. A deputy found 10 bags of marijuana and the beer cans in the Isuzu Rodeo,” Source: Associated Press 1/12/00.
Grams had been previously jailed twice on drug-related offenses. Chief Deputy Peter Beberg “found Grams driving a sport utility truck with 10 bags of marijuana inside-an unspecified amount. A 17-year-old passenger was charged with possession of nine of the bags and later spent time at a juvenile detention center. The 10th bag was found under Gram’s seat, according to a report by deputy Todd Diegnau,”
Source: Associated Press 11/14/99.

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8. Susan Gallo (33), daughter of former Representative Dean Gallo (R-NJ)

Gallo was charged with five counts of cocaine possession, five counts of intent to distribute, five counts of distribution, and five counts of conspiracy. Facing five to ten years in prison for each charge, Gallo plead guilty to one count of distribution and one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Gallo was sentenced to five years’ probation in 1992.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999

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9. Warren Bachus (19) , son of Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL)

Bachus was busted in 1993 for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bachus was not convicted and in a “pretrial diversion remedy,” he was set free. Bachus paid $56 in court expenses and was required to submit to drug testing twice in the following six months.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999

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10. Josef Hinchey (26), son of Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)

Hinchey was charged with intent to distribute individual cocaine doses. Hinchey could have been sentenced to 20 years in prison. He plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and received a sentence of 13 months in prison. The prison term was suspended until Hinchey completed a drug-treatment program.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999

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11. Darlene Watts sister of US Rep. J.C. Watts, Jr. (R-OK)

Darlene Watts, 34, the sister of U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts (R_OK), the new House Republican Caucus Chairman, the number four position in the House leadership, was given a seven_year suspended sentence after successfully completing a boot camp program for nonviolent offenders. Darlene Watts was charged with possession and distribution of marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, and maintaining a property where drugs were kept. She pleaded guilty to six drug_related counts in March 1998
(Associated Press, “Watts’ Kin Gets Term Suspended,” July 20, 1998)

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12. Richard Riley, Jr., son of Education Secretary Richard Riley

Riley, Jr. was sentenced to six months’ house arrest in June of 1993 for conspiring to sell up to 25 grams of cocaine and 100 grams of marijuana in South Carolina. The initial charges carried a penalty of ten years to life in prison. Riley’s light sentence allowed him to continue his work at an environmental consulting firm.
Source: James Bovard, “Prison Sentences of the Politically Connected,” Playboy; July 1999.

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13. Gayle Rosten, daughter of former House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL)

Rosten was charged with possession of 29 grams of cocaine with intent to deliver in June of 1990. Rosten, facing up to 15 years in prison, plead guilty to a lesser charge and received three years probation and 20 hours of public service, paid a fine of $2800, and forfeited the car in which the cocaine was found. Three years later, Rosten was found with a gram of cocaine in her possession. In violation of her probation, Rosten could have faced up to three years in prison. However, the charge was dismissed by one judge, then reinstated after Rosten was indicted by a county grand jury. On April 12, 1994 Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Toomin ruled that the search of Rosten had been illegal. Ironically, Judge Toomin ruled that the packets of cocaine were admissible evidence against the two passengers that supposedly “dropped” the packets in Rosten’s car.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999

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