As your Crawford County Prosecutor, I am proud of the work my office has done in serving the great people of Crawford County. As a Prosecutor, I deal with the facts. In response to my opponent’s open forum letter of March 1, 2016, I would like the facts to speak for themselves. In 2014 my office indicted a total of 262 criminal cases. 258 of those cases have been completed with 230 cases pleading guilty or were found guilty. That is a conviction rate of 89%. In 2015 my office indicted a total of 399 criminal cases. 361 of those cases have been completed with 327 cases pleading guilty or were found guilty. That is a conviction rate of 90%.
Cases are dismissed for many different and appropriate reasons. My opponent’s open forum letter failed to distinguish some cases that are dismissed as part of a negotiated prison sentence where the Defendant has multiple cases. He also failed to distinguish cases that were dismissed when a first time felony offender pled guilty and entered into a program such as Diversion or Intervention in Lieu of Conviction and successfully completed that program which causes, as a matter of law, that case to be dismissed.
I am proud of the relationship that my office has with the local Crawford County law enforcement agencies. My office has invested in their training along with assisting the newly formed Crawford County Special Response Team (SRT). This team, which began in mid-2014, is a very important piece in prosecuting dangerous drug cases. This team is directly responsible for the increased number of indicted drug cases brought by my office. Detectives and Officers from all the Crawford County law enforcement agencies are working hard to eradicate the drug problem. One strategy to combat drug trafficking is to investigate the drug traffickers, obtain a search warrant, and catch the drug trafficker with a large amount of illegal drugs. This strategy has proven very effective with over 120 drug charges being filed in 2014 and over 215 drug charges in 2015.
My opponent, in his open forum letter, tried to make a distinction between a drug trafficking charge and a drug possession charge and tried to criticize the levels of felonies charged by my office. My office files charges based upon the facts. When my office has facts that prove a criminal is trafficking drugs in a certain amount, we file drug trafficking charges. When my office has facts that a criminal drug trafficker has been caught with a large amount of illegal drugs in his possession, we file drug possession charges. The facts of an investigation lead to the type and the level of felony charged; that is what is able to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In 2014 and 2015 with the hard work of area law enforcement officers, my office convicted the following levels of crimes:
2014 2015
F1 – 9 F3 – 36 F5 – 142 F1 – 9 F3 – 59 F5 – 181
F2 – 15 F4 – 26 M1 – 2 F2 – 19 F4 – 55 M1 – 4
I am proud of the work that my office and I do to combat the drug problem in Crawford County. When I ran for office four years ago, the County Prosecutor was absent from the fight against the #1 problem facing our County, illegal drugs. Recently, I was requested by leaders of our County to lead the Drug Abuse and Law Enforcement Action Team of Crawford’s 20/20 Vision. My opponent says that the fight against illegal drugs must be won from the courtroom. That is only partly true. The Prosecutor’s job is to hold those accountable – something that anyone can see is happening. However, the battle against illegal drugs will only be truly won when Crawford County holds those responsible for breaking the law; gets addicts off drugs; and keeps our children from trying illegal drugs.
Citizens of Crawford County, I am proud to be one of you. I am proud to have been born, been raised, and resided in this County my whole life. I am proud that this is where I want to raise my family. I worry about the problems this County is facing and I want to continue to be a part of the solution that eradicates our number one problem: drug addiction. I am proud of my office’s record and I stand by our hard work in the last four years. I ask you for the opportunity to work even harder for the next four years as your re-elected County Prosecutor. I ask you for your vote on March 15th, 2016.
-Matt Crall
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