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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Adria R Walker

Convictions of people caught by illegal Florida police drug sting to be vacated

a man in a suit stands with his hands clasped in front of him
The Broward county state attorney, Harold F Pryor, said: ‘It is never too late to do the right thing.’ Photograph: Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP

Between 1988 and 1990, the Broward county sheriff’s office (BSO) in Florida manufactured and sold crack cocaine as part of a controversial sting operation to arrest people for purchasing the illegal drug. Many of those who are arrested for purchasing the BSO-made drugs were given lengthy prison sentences. The Florida supreme court declared the operation unlawful in 1993, but many people still have criminal charges or convictions on their records.

Now, the Broward county state attorney, Harold F Pryor, seeks to bring justice to those affected by the operation. Last week Pryor, the first Black state attorney in Broward and the first Black man to be elected state attorney in Florida, announced plans to vacate as many as 2,600 convictions linked to the drug sting operation.

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