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December 6, 2013

Report: U.S. Prosecutors Regularly Coerce Drug Offenders to Plead Guilty 
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A new report reveals how federal prosecutors routinely coerce people
accused of drug offenses into pleading guilty by threatening them with
harsh mandatory prison sentences. According to Human Rights Watch, 97
percent of federal drug defendants plead guilty. In cases where they
refuse to plead and are convicted of offenses that carry mandatory
minimums, they serve an average of 11 years longer just by going to
trial. In one case, a man who rejected a 10-year plea deal for heroin
charges was sentenced to life in prison at trial.

 

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