Lamont H Garrison #42689-083 Sentence: 19 years Offense: Powder cocaine(10kg) and crack cocaine conspiracy (500g) Priors: None Date of sentencing: 10/16/98 Date of Birth: 4/17/73	Lawrence B Garrison #42784-084 Sentence: 15 years Offense: Powder cocaine(10kg) and crack cocaine conspiracy (500g) Priors: None Date of sentencing: 10/16/98 Date of Birth: 4/17/73

Nature Of Offense:
Tito Abea, the proprietor of an autobody shop in Maryland, was arrested as a major player in a large, 20-person powder and crack cocaine operation. In order to get a reduction from the hefty prison term he was facing, Abea was asked to implicate others in the conspiracy.

Two of the people he implicated were twin brothers Lawrence and Lamont Garrison. Abea testified that he supplied the Garrisons with 1-2 kilos of cocaine every week for 10 weeks in 1996, and then again in 1997. Soon, other conspirators were following Abea's lead and testifying that they had seen some of these transactions take place.

According to Lawrence and Lamont, their contact with Abea had to do with his business: they were having extensive work done on their grandmother's car and the mechanic's phone wasn't working, so they would call Abea's adjacent autobody shop, and he would hand the phone to the mechanic. The twins' mother and uncle both say this is true since they, too, often called and inquired about the car.

There were no drugs, drug paraphernalia, or other evidence of drugs found on the Garrisons or in their home. There was never any record at all of them selling drugs, other than testimonies from the known and now-convicted drug dealers in the conspiracy. And there was no proof that like the other defendants, Lawrence or Lamont "derived money and other benefits" from the 2 years of drugdealing. In fact, both brothers were living in their mother's house and had thousands of dollars in college loan bill to pay off: Lamont's bill alone was $40,000.00.

Sure of their innocence, the Garrisons felt they had to go to trial. They did not have enough money to hire one lawyer, let alone two, and so they both ended up with county appointed attorneys who, according to their mother, "were relaxed with the case" and fell asleep during the trail.

The twins' mother reports how the lawyers failed to gather key information which would have disproved the government's only other bit of evidence against Lawrence and Lamont: phone records.

The government says the brothers couldn't have merely been calling Abea about the car because they called too frequently, sometimes at strange hours, and on Abea's cell phone and pager, not his business phone. With what they consider an inadequate defense, the twins were found guilty by a jury.

Sentence Of Other Involved:
Tito Abea gained tremendously from implicating Lawrence and Lamont: he only got 3 years in prison, even though he was heavily involved in the cocaine operation.

Personal Background:
Lamont and Lawrence were arrested just months after their graduation from Howard University. Both had worked part-time for 4 years to pay their tuition, and both were excellent students who were planning on becoming lawyers.

At the time of his arrest, Lamont was working full-time as a juvenile counselor in Maryland, and both he and his brother had previously worked at the Department of Energy and the Department of Justice.

The Garrisons' friends, family and teachers were all shocked when "the twins" were not acquitted of the charges. Everyone who knew them was positive that Lawrence and Lamont were never involved with drugs or crime.

A family friend who had known the brothers for years wrote to their judge, "They would not have risked all they have worked so hard for, or their futures, on some immediate and temporary gratification. These boys are not the type and were not raised that way."

Information Provided by FAMM