Candidate claims donation ‘raises red flags’

Published 8:27 pm Friday, October 1, 2010

EVERETT — The man who has been trailing in his attempts to convince voters he should be Snohomish County prosecutor is suggesting his opponent may have sold justice in a drug case in exchange for $1,600 in campaign contributions.

In recent days, Jim Kenny has been telling people that the money given to the campaign of his opponent, Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe, “raises red flags.”

He suspects the donations may be linked to what he considers leniency for a Mill Creek man, 21. The defendant’s parents donated to Roe’s campaign this summer.

Kenny made the accusations in interviews this week with The Herald and another newspaper.

On Friday, he acknowledged he has not engaged in much digging to determine whether anything improper actually occurred.

“On the face of it there are red flags,” he said. “There are concerns, in my opinion, but I don’t have the investigative abilities … ”

When he heard about Kenny’s questions, Roe made the case file available for inspection by reporters. The records show Roe had no direct involvement with the case, and that the defendant was convicted and sentenced exactly as the deputy prosecutor assigned to the case recommended from the outset in June.

Notes in the file and other documents show the decision on how to resolve the case was reached two months before the campaign donation to Roe.

Kenny didn’t bother to learn the facts before suggesting misconduct, Roe said.

“I think this is what happens when ignorance and desperation meet,” he said.

Kenny trailed by roughly a 2-to-1 margin in the primary election contest with Roe. They face off again Nov. 2, and Kenny’s campaign has little cash left.

The case that caught Kenny’s attention began June 3 when a man was found passed out in a pickup truck outside a south county grocery store. He was arrested after prescription pain medications were found in his vehicle, records show.

The Herald is not publishing the names of those involved because Kenny’s allegations could be construed as bribery, something that nobody has been charged with.

The case concluded Sept. 21 with the defendant pleading guilty to soliciting possession of a controlled substance, a gross misdemeanor. He was sentenced to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. The judge ordered that all the jail time be suspended and waived all but $1,000 of the fine, so long as the man commits no other offenses during two years of probation.

The man initially faced felony drug possession charges but was offered an “expedited” prosecution, a plea agreement in which prosecutors indicate from the outset that they are willing to accept a guilty plea to a misdemeanor.

The offer is frequently made to people with no felony history, as was the case here.

Mark Mestel is one of the region’s top defense attorneys and an expert in drug cases. He was not involved in this case but said its outcome is typical of what routinely happens in similar cases in Snohomish and King counties.

“I have no issue with the integrity of the prosecutors in Snohomish County,” Mestel said. “I may take exception to some of their decisions and may on occasion think that they fail to see my point of view, but it has nothing to do with integrity or honesty.”

The defendant’s father is a longtime, frequent contributor to various political campaigns in Snohomish County. Earlier this spring he helped sponsor a fund-raising event for Roe. On Aug. 24, he and his wife contributed $800 each to Roe’s campaign.

Roe said he’s never actually met the man and didn’t know his son had been charged. His office receives up to 20,000 case referrals each year. As prosecuting attorney, he no longer is involved in the day-to-day handling of most cases and charging decisions.

The Herald spoke Friday with the man who donated to Roe’s campaign. He said the contribution was not quid-pro-quo for how his son’s case was handled.

“Absolutely not,” he said.

Kenny, who sits on the board of commissioners for Fire District 1 in south Snohomish County, handles misdemeanor cases as an assistant attorney in Seattle.

He said he wouldn’t have given the defendant a break, citing a deferred prosecution the man got in a 2007 reckless driving case.

Maybe there was nothing wrong with how this case was handled, Kenny said Friday. “It seems strange that someone would get such a good deal with this fact pattern,” he said.

Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com.