Judge dismisses charges against other suspects
By COLIN McDONALD
P-I REPORTER
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Faced with prison and deportation, they believed a plea deal was the best option for themselves and their families.
That was before Monday, when federal charges were suddenly dropped against five other Somalis accused of similar crimes.
On the eve of trial, U.S. District Judge James Robart dismissed charges accusing the men of importing and distributing a controlled substance. Prosecutors had recommended the move, citing problems with a witness and a desire to await the outcome of a major khat prosecution pending in New York.
The local Somalis who signed plea agreements, meanwhile, so far are stuck. Scheduled to be sentenced in July, they are looking at sentences ranging from a year of probation to five years in prison. They don't have a lot of options, except to try to withdraw their pleas or postpone the sentencing, one of their lawyers said Wednesday.
"A lot of the defendants are reassessing their position," said attorney Stephan Illa, who is representing Abdirashid Abdi.
A stimulant, khat leaves are chewed like tobacco in social settings in Africa and the Middle East, where it was been used for centuries. Khat technically isn't illegal in the U.S. -- but the cathinone it contains is. That mild stimulant, however, begins to break down into legal cathine as soon as the leaves are picked; and it's nearly is absent 72 hours after harvest.
In this country, the federal court system has little experience with prosecuting khat cases and hasn't yet established guidelines for how the drug should be handled for testing.
One of the Seattle men who had the charges dismissed, Ali Ismail, fired two lawyers who told him he should take the plea deal. He ended up representing himself and said those who signed the plea agreements did so because they trusted their lawyers.
"That's what put them in the position they are in today," he said.
Ismail and the other four aren't completely free. Authorities said this week that they may refile charges, depending on the outcome of the New York case, which involves the same alleged distribution ring.
Under Abdi's plea agreement, he would be recommended for a year of probation with a chance to eventually erase the conviction from his record.