Major Felony Unit
The Major Felony Unit was established in 1989 in conjunction with the District Attorney's Office and provides investigative and legal guidance along with technical support. United States Customs provides federal jurisdiction on cases that lead outside of Salt Lake County, as well as additional federal funding.
Original funding for the unit came from a federal grant award from the Utah Commission on Crime and Juvenile Justice (UCCJJ). The idea behind the program was to open a new front in the war against drugs, changing the focus from street-level drug distribution to top-level narcotics trafficking. This approach includes 3 drug prongs: 1) identify those responsible at the highest level of the drug distribution organization; 2) gather enough evidence to charge those responsible with appropriate crimes to ensure lengthy prison sentences; and 3) seize and cause the forfeiture of all assets gained by the illegal activity.
Each of the many cases completed by the Unit resulted in the identification and dismantling of large-scale drug organizations. Their philosophy includes tracing the origin of the narcotics to the out-of-state sources and charging those at that end as well. This approach ensures that a local distributor will not be replaced by the source, effectively stopping all trafficking associated with the target organization.
The average jail sentence for a drug kingpin, prosecuted as a result of a Major Felony Unit investigation, has been 10 years of federal minimum mandatory time. This contrasts sharply with the average of 3 days time served for local drug arrests. The benefit to the community is that those responsible at the highest level receive the severest treatment and are kept off the street.
During 1999, the Major Felony Unit has permanently broken up several major narcotics distribution organizations operating out of Salt Lake County. These cases netted over $199,000 in asset forfeitures, 25 federal indictments and 50 state charges. These organizations were responsible for the importation of a combined total of 56 pounds of marijuana, 33.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 35 pounds of cocaine and 22 ounces of black tar heroin. The value of these drugs would exceed 1 million dollars at the wholesale level and several million on the street.
The Major Felony Unit also provides assistance to other investigative squads in the Sheriff's Office as well as outside agencies. We continue to receive requests for technical support and aside from drug cases, have assisted on several homicide investigations, a kidnapping case, and the location of several escapees.