David Lee Sanchez - North Carolina
#0681650
State: North Carolina
Sentence: 18 years 9 months to 23 years 3 months (225-279 months)
Offense: Trafficking by possession of methamphetamine, trafficking by sale of methamphetamine, and conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine
Court: Superior Court in Henderson County
Priors: DWI (3/20/2000)
Date of Sentencing: 3/27/01
Date of Birth: 2/2/82
Projected Release Date: 6/16/2019
Nature of Offense: On the evening of September 15, 2000, David and his uncle, Frank Flores, drove to a Holiday Inn Express in Hendersonville where they met a Henderson County police officer disguised as a biker in the parking lot. Frank handed the officer a bandana wrapped packed containing one pound of methamphetamine. In exchange, the officer gave Frank $13,000. Frank and David were immediately arrested. A gun was found under the front passenger seat. Later that night, the police searched Frank’s home where David also resided. They found another pound of methamphetamine in David’s sock drawer, 2 ½ pounds of marijuana in another bedroom, some cash, and some prescription pills. Frank told the police that the drugs and gun belonged to David. The government offered David a deal of eight years in exchange for the name of his supplier. David refused and a jury convicted him of all three charges. David was sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of 18 years and 9 months. He was only 18 years old.
Guideline Sentence: Two pounds of methamphetamine equals about 1 kilogram. In North Carolina, trafficking 400 grams or more of methamphetamine is a class C felony and warrants a mandatory minimum sentence of 225 months and a maximum term of 279 months. David received this term for all three charges, to be run concurrently. Without the mandatory penalties, David would have had a guideline range of 58-73 months for a criminal history category of I in the presumptive range.
Sentences of Others Involved: Despite Frank’s cooperation and his acceptance of a plea bargain, he received the exact same sentence as David.
Personal Background: The drug dealing lifestyle swept up David at a very early age. He was only 14 when he first started to sell marijuana to support his habit. In a year, he was a middleman, selling up to 25 lbs. of marijuana a week to small-time peddlers. Securing steady supplies of marijuana and eventually harder drugs like methamphetamine and ecstasy was easy for him since Mexican-Americans controlled the drug distribution network where David lived. Moving up was easy too. After an FBI raid arrested all the major methamphetamine dealers in town, David reports that he quickly filled the void for the burgeoning demand. Due to a brief run-in with the law, David moved to Hendersonville, North Carolina to live with his aunt and uncle. He quickly realized the potential profits from the vibrant demand and became the main distributor of methamphetamine in Hendersonville. Despite his wealth, he was fully saddled with his numerous drug addictions. By the time he was only 16, he was regularly abusing marijuana, LSD, methamphetamine, cocaine, opium, ecstasy, alcohol, and prescription pills.
Since his incarceration, David has worked to rehabilitate himself. In addition to attending weekly Narcotics Anonymous meetings, he completed the prison’s 35-day Drug Alcohol Recovery Treatment (DART) and worked as a peer counselor for the program before the state terminated it due to budget constrictions. David has also been striving for the education he once abandoned. He received his G.E.D and is taking college classes toward a degree in Drafting and Design. He understands his actions were wrong and detrimental to society. Now he has at least until 2019 to live with his poor decisions.
Complied from appellant brief and inmate information.
6/25/03 jc