Trey Radel, Busted On Cocaine Charge, Voted For Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients

I would like to know what kind of sentences the judge who gave him probation gives to poor people who do the same thing?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/trey-radel-drug-testing_n_4305348.html

Posted: 11/19/2013 7:21 pm EST | Updated: 11/20/2013
Arthur Delaney

In September, Republican Rep. Trey Radel voted for Republican legislation that would allow states to make food stamp recipients pee in cups to prove they're not on drugs. In October, police busted the Florida Republican on a charge of cocaine possession.

“It’s really interesting it came on the heels of Republicans voting on everyone who had access to food stamps get drug tested," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told BuzzFeed Tuesday. "It’s like, what?”

-----

Most of the state legislation was authored by Republicans. Oftentimes, state Democrats responded by suggesting lawmakers should be subject to tests as well. If the government's going to make sure recipients of taxpayer-funded benefits are clean, the argument went, then why not also make sure the recipients of taxpayer salaries are clean, too?

In June, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) made that very suggestion when he questioned why recipients of crop insurance and other government benefits weren't also targeted for drug tests like people on food stamps.

"Why don't we drug test all the members of Congress here," McGovern said shortly before the drug-testing measure passed. "Force everybody to go urinate in a cup or see whether or not anybody is on drugs? Maybe that will explain why some of these amendments are coming up or why some of the votes are turning out the way they are."

-----


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57613147/rep-trey-radel-pleads-guilty-to-cocaine-possession-gets-probation/

By Rebecca Kaplan /
CBS News/ November 20, 2013

Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla., was sentenced to a year of minimally supervised probation and ordered to pay a $250 fine to a victims compensation fund after pleading guilty Wednesday to the possession of cocaine.

The maximum charge possible for Radel, who was arrested on Oct. 29, was 180 days of imprisonment in addition to a possible fine up to $1,000.

Assistant Attorney Nihar Mohanty said that Drug Enforcement and FBI agents first learned from confidential sources in fall of 2013 that Radel purchased, used and occasionally shared cocaine with others. He was arrested during an Oct. 29 sting operation in which he purchased 3.5 grams of cocaine worth $250 from an undercover agents. When the transaction was completed, agents approached Radel, who dropped the cocaine, but eventually admitted he had purchased it. He also brought the agents back to his apartment, admitted that he had purchased the cocaine, and also gave them another vial of the drug in his possession.

-----

Somewhat ironically, Radel is the cosponsor of H.R. 1695, Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, which would give judges more flexibility on sentencing in cases involving mandatory minimums. He's also gone on record as citing his favorite vacation spot as Cartagena, Colombia, which as of 2004 accounted for 80 percent of the world's cocaine production.

-----