The title of this post is the headline of this new article from the Cincinnati Enquirer, which carries the subheading "Facing more than 30 years in prison a convicted drug dealer and gambler made a deal."  Here are excerpts from the piece:

Derek Ragan, a convicted drug dealer and gambler, faced more than 30 years in prison after officials raided his West End restaurant, called it an illegal gambling house and seized almost $1 million in cash. When he left court last month, Ragan had none of that cash – but had his freedom.

Ragan agreed to forfeit the $992,457 seized by police, eventually split by four law enforcement agencies and the IRS, hoping for leniency.  It worked.  Instead of the decades in prison the original charges carried, he got probation. “Sometimes money talks,” said Rich Goldberg, a Hyde Park criminal defense attorney who represented Ragan in the past. “I suspect if he had $9.92 instead of over ($992,000 seized), there is a likelihood a plea bargain wouldn’t have been as good for him.”...

Prosecutors won’t specifically say why the deal was offered to Ragan, saying plea deals are a normal part of their strategy.  Is it cynical to suspect it was because he agreed to forfeit the almost $1 million seized?

Yes, said Julie Wilson, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County Prosecutor. “Some charges were dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement but the plea was NOT contingent on forfeiture of the money,” she wrote in an email.

Ron White, a philosophy professor at the College of Mount St. Joseph, isn’t convinced. “I don’t think it’s cynical at all. I think it’s today’s reality,” White said. “These are minor crimes compared to murder and theft... It raises lot of questions.” A culture of 'cash or prison'

The concern, added attorney Larry Salzman, is such plea deals could “create a culture of cash or prison.” Salzman is with Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based law firm specializing in fighting government forfeiture cases.  “It calls into question the legitimacy of prosecutions,” Salzman said.  “If they’re going to have a direct financial incentive, it creates a perverse incentive for law enforcement. It creates a climate of cynicism.”

Cross-posted from Sentencing Law & Policy.