SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' announced Wednesday that her office is revoking dozens of misdemeanor plea offers from suspected fentanyl dealers.
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"As of today, we have revoked a number of lenient offers in drug dealing cases from the previous administration," Jenkins said Wednesday in a press conference, as part of her continued efforts to differentiate herself from recalled predecessor Chesa Boudin.
These are cases involving what she calls "egregious amounts of fentanyl possessed for sale." Jenkins said her office will seek felony charges, with more than 30 cases involving over 50 grams of fentanyl. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has said 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be deadly, depending upon a person's body size.
In one instance that Jenkins said was particularly "egregious," she said a defendant with six open cases against him for dealing fentanyl in the Tenderloin was offered a lone misdemeanor. She said her office's new offer to them "will now include jail time," as well as to others "who have multiple open cases for the same conduct."
"We have to send a strong message that if people choose to sell this lethal drug in our city, that they will be held accountable," Jenkins said.
The San Francisco Standard obtained court data earlier this year showing Boudin's office didn't secure a single conviction against fentanyl dealers last year. Attorneys in Boudin's office attributed it, in part, to emphasizing diversion programs and considering offenders' immigration status, as drug dealing convictions can lead to deportation.
In 2020 and '21, 1,350 people in San Francisco died of drug overdoses, according to city data. San Francisco is on pace for fewer drug overdoses in 2022 than either of the last two years, with 297 overdoses reported through June. Of those, 212 involved fentanyl.
Jenkins said the office's new policy prohibits dealers possessing more than 5 grams to go to the city's Community Justice Center, which she claimed was "abused" under Boudin. Her office will also be "potentially seeking pre-trial detention in extreme fentanyl sales cases" and for repeat offenders.
"My new policy will also put back on the table enhancements for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school," she said.
Jenkins said she hopes that the city "can disrupt the business model" of drug deals and, ultimately, make the streets safer. Critics of Jenkins, including former former San Francisco Police Commissioner John Hamasaki and ex-DA's office communications director Rachel Marshall, blasted the announcement as a return to policies from the war on drugs.
Last month, San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association President Ken Lomba told Mission Local that "we don't have the deputy staff to properly run the jail" amid an expected increase in the incarcerated population from Jenkins' policy changes.
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