MT Prosecutor Jailed Pending Sentencing in Federal Cocaine Case

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Sat Mar 14, 2009 at 07:05:24 PM EST
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Last year, over at 5280.com, I wrote about the case of Montana county prosecutor Robert Eddleman who was charged with cocaine offenses (pdf). Eddleman's co-defendant and significant other, Terri Jabs Kurth, is the daughter of Denver furniture mogul Jake Jabs, who is very familiar to Coloradans as he is a staple on late night television commercials.

This week, Eddleman and Kurth pleaded guilty. Eddleman was jailed pending sentencing, Kurth was not.

It's interesting that the charges here are not that the couple sold drugs....it's that they bought drugs and held parties at their homes where people used them.

It's hard to have sympathy for a prosecutor who breaks the drug laws, but jailing him pending sentencing seems over the top. I also wonder whether Kurth got bond because she's less involved or because she agreed to forfeit $50,000. to the feds. [More...]

According to the Government's offer of proof in the case, available on PACER, here's what the Government says its evidence is against Eddleman:

1. In August 2007, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation began to investigate D.B. for trafficking cocaine in Billings and Red Lodge, Montana;
2. During the course of the investigation, the authorities learned that the Defendant had purchased cocaine from D.B. over a period of several years and engaged in the recreational use of the cocaine.
3. In September 2008, the authorities interviewed various friends and acquaintances of the Defendant. Those people confirmed that the Defendant and his female companion hosted parties at her homes in Billings and Red Lodge where cocaine was used during the time period alleged in the indictment.

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MT Prosecutor Jailed Pending Sentencing in Federal Cocaine Case | 2 comments (2 topical)

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A fascinating case (none / 0) (#1)
by Mikeb302000 on Sun Mar 15, 2009 at 08:07:14 AM EST

But, wouldn't this be one of the first to disappear if we ever got a new enlightened drug policy. Right after all the marijuana possession convictions, these "cocaine for personal use" cases have to be seen in a different light, don't you think?

: I would hope so... (none / 0) (#2)
by kdog on Sun Mar 15, 2009 at 08:17:32 AM EST

personally I find cocaine an abhorrent drug, but that is a question of taste. If a free American can use it responsibly it is their inalienable right.
We should be so lucky to have prosecutions such as this go away.
Now if the blow negatively affected his work he could be fired, if he stole to support his habit he could be jailed, if he became violent he could be jailed. But to jail him for hosting parties and having his version of a good time? It's tyranny, pure and simple....I'm amazed everyone can't see it, I really am.