12/21/24
November 12, 2013
Breaking Real Bad: Inside the Sam Hurd Drug Case: On Wednesday, former Cowboys and Bears receiver Sam Hurd will likely be sentenced to life in prison for drug trafficking. Is he the cocaine kingpin the government has made him out to be, or the victim of an overzealous prosecution and excessively harsh narcotics laws? An exclusive 22-month investigation reveals how it all went wrong for one of the NFL’s most promising and well-liked young talents—and why there’s more to Hurd’s downfall than we’ve been led to believe.
posted by Ufez Jones to football at 07:07 PM - 6 comments
Yeah, it was. The war on drugs is a fucking joke. Even if Hurd is guilty of all of the allegations against him relating to drug trafficking (which the story makes seem pretty damn doubtful), a life sentence is ridiculous. There are people who kill kids that get less.
posted by tahoemoj at 11:36 AM on November 13, 2013
It's obvious from that story that Hurd had no history purchasing or distributing cocaine. He's someone who smoked a lot of weed and often provided the same for his buddies ... and not a very bright guy.
The authorities played Hurd like a fiddle while building substantial charges against him. So conspiring to entrap a wannabe criminal is acceptable, but conspiring to be a criminal means life in prison?
posted by cixelsyd at 12:28 PM on November 13, 2013
Update: Hurd has been sentenced to to 15 years in federal prison.
posted by Ufez Jones at 07:20 PM on November 13, 2013
15 years is way better than life, but still insane.
posted by holden at 09:59 PM on November 13, 2013
I've always had problems with entrapment; it could be said that without the feds' actions, there would have been no arrest. I think the fact that he had been an NFL player caught the interest of the feds: it's now a big feather in their cap.
I also question the report near the end of the article: Hurd tried to buy 11 pounds of cocaine and 110 pounds of marijuana? I cannot fathom the amount of money that would have cost -- from having covered drug cases for newspapers, I know it isn't cheap.
posted by jjzucal at 12:13 AM on November 15, 2013
A great read if you want a concrete example of what's wrong with our drug laws and mandatory minimums.