A convicted cocaine dealer cheated police in a drug deal and ended up with a lighter prison sentence.
Ramon Leon of Grand Rapids would have faced a mandatory 20 years in prison if he sold 8 ounces of cocaine to the police. But officers found they bought only 7.8 ounces.Leon, 28, was sentenced Thursday to 13 to 20 years.
"He shorted us," Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Ellwyn Bloemers said. "That's not unusual to have that happen to us. When we buy 2 ounces, it should be 56 grams, but we come back with 49 frequently. He's very slick; he's very polished."
Bloemers said that on Nov. 22, 1989, an officer weighed the eight cocaine-filled bags on a scale kept in his car's trunk but may not have accounted for the weight of the bags. Police paid $6,800 for the drugs.
Bloemers thinks Leon intentionally held back, knowing an 8-ounce deal could mean a 20-year term.
State law says a dealer convicted of selling 225 grams or more of cocaine faces at least 20 years in prison.
"The only reason you're not covered by the 20-year minimum term is that you cheated the officer in that transaction," Circuit Judge Donald Johnston told Leon.