Metro Gang Task Force Investigation Results in 120-Month Federal Prison Sentence for Career Offender
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 28, 2010 |
PORTLAND, OR—Curtis Lee Deskins, 37, was sentenced on April 19, 2010, by U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown to 120 months in federal prison for distributing crack cocaine. Following his federal prison sentence the defendant will be on supervised release for eight years.
The case originated when the Metro Gang Task Force used an undercover informant to purchase one ounce of crack cocaine from the defendant. The defendant set up the deal to occur during the middle of the day in a residential neighborhood in Northeast Portland, in the area of Northeast 16th and Northeast Skidmore. After the defendant provided the crack cocaine to the informant, in exchange for $1,500, Task Force Officers moved in to arrest him. The defendant ended up trying to flee the pursuing officers and attempted to, by his later admission, “play chicken” with the police by driving his car directly at them and trying to force them to move. The defendant eventually crashed into a parked car and, after a foot pursuit, was arrested hiding in the backyard of a house.
The defendant was arrested and indicted for the distribution of five grams or more of cocaine base, in the form of crack cocaine. Based upon his four prior felony drug convictions the government filed notice of its intent to seek enhanced penalties against the defendant. The defendant pled guilty to the charge in December 2009. Based upon his prior felony convictions for assault, which involved Deskins shooting a previous girlfriend, and delivery of a controlled substance, the defendant qualified as a career offender under the federal sentencing guidelines.
The case was investigated by the Metro Gang Task Force which consists of agents and officers from the FBI, ATF, ICE, Portland Police Bureau, Milwaukie Police Department, Beaverton Police Department, Gresham Police Department, Tigard Police Department, and the Hillsboro Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Scott M. Kerin.