Drugs & money: the politics of cocaine
ASPEN – Montgomery Chitty, who is 61, palled around with the late writer Hunter Thompson and the late Ed Bradley, a correspondent for the television show “60 Minutes.” Thompson lived near Aspen and Bradley was a frequent visitor.

Chitty was also involved in politics at a high level. The Aspen Daily News says that he was a consultant to the Democratic National Committee for a time. He also pitched in to get Gary Hart elected to the U.S. Senate and then make a run at being U.S. president.

But now Chitty is behind bars, as he has been for the last year, and he may remain there for the rest of his life. A jury in Denver convicted Chitty of peddling cocaine in Aspen. Witnesses told jurors at the trial in Denver District Court that Chitty bought and sold well more than 200 kilos of cocaine from 2002-12, with at least hundreds of thousands of dollars getting passed.

This and related cases have provided a fascinating peek into the lingering drug culture of Aspen. Five people from the Aspen area arrested in 2011 were all in their 60s. Chitty was arrested in early 2012. One of their cocaine suppliers in Los Angeles is in his 70s.

The drug bust also focused attention on whether local law enforcement, specifically the sheriff’s department, turned a blind eye toward drug use or, even worse, was too chummy with some of the drug dealers. That was one of the suggestions implicit in the decision by federal drug agents in 2011 not to notify the local sheriff of the impending bust.

One of the defendants had ties with the last three sheriffs of Pitkin County. The former sheriff for the last 30 to 35 years and the current sheriff both admitted they attended a birthday party for Wayne Reid, the ringleader of the coke-peddling business. Both sheriffs denied close ties.

But Reid, 66, last week was sentenced to 53 months in prison, while Chitty, who is younger, is widely expected to be given what one lawyer in Aspen says is commonly called the “pine-box life.”

Why the difference? Rick Carroll, managing editor of The Aspen Times, says you may tell your kids not to be a tattletale. But federal drug laws give defendants strong incentive to snitch – and Chitty refused.

“By all accounts, Chitty refused to cooperate with prosecutors by giving names and outing dealers,” he says.

Other defendants in the ring told names and are getting comparatively light sentences, at most 11.5 years among the five, says Carroll. Chitty will almost certainly be behind bars for two decades.

“Chitty was the sacrificial lamb because he kept his mouth shut – and also because he was friends with the past three Pitkin County sheriffs, all of whom the feds have lusted over for years but haven’t mustered an inkling of evidence to charge or prosecute – just enough innuendo to keep the rumor mill turning.”

In this, Carroll says he has only so much sympathy for Chitty. “This was the business Chitty chose,” he writes. “But so did the other ones, all in their 60s and 70s, who sold out Chitty in exchange for sweetheart deals or immunity. Justice got turned upside down in this case, one tainted by coke-peddling snitches, dealers who stayed in the game too long, confidential informants, backroom deals and a DEA hell-bent on making Aspen its prize catch, albeit 20 years late with a small fish like Chitty.”

Coke dealer sentenced to 10 years
TELLURIDE – Cocaine has also been in the news in Telluride. There, Prudencio Lopez-Montoya was sentenced to a 10-year prison sentence for his involvement in a Telluride cocaine distribution ring that police say he led.

Of that, eight years is mandatory, reports the Telluride Daily Planet. He and five others were arrested in a raid last August. All of those arrested are Mexican nationals and face deportation after their sentences are served.

Through an interpreter, Lopez-Montoya said he was dealing cocaine to raise money for his family in Mexico, where he has two children and other family members.

The prosecuting attorney asked for a maximum penalty, citing a “public safety issue.” But the public defender asked for a lighter sentence, as there was no evidence that he was inflicting violence. “It was purely economic,” said Nicolas Campbell. “There is clearly a demand here (for cocaine).”

The judge, Mary Deganhart, sternly warned that no circumstances justify selling illegal drugs, and that punishments are intended to be a deterrent.

Black bears emerging from their dens
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – As is their habit, bears have started showing up on the slopes of the Steamboat ski area and other locales around Steamboat Springs.

Jim Haskins, a state wildlife officer, explains that upon emerging from their dens, bears eat very little. He tells Steamboat Today that bears typically do not start being a nuisance and dumpster diving until May or June.

Things are more problematic in drought years, and although Steamboat fared better than many other Colorado ski towns, it’s nonetheless a dry year there.

Mountain sports concussions on the rise
WHISTLER, B.C. – Last year, 800 head injuries were tended to in the emergency room at the Whistler Health Care Center. Concussions were all too frequent in this town, which Pique Newsmagazine identifies as a place of “hard riding, hard skiing and hard activity.”

While those in the United States have certainly heard about the effects of repeated concussions on football players, Pique also takes a look at effects on skiers and mountain bikers. Among the mountain bike riders is a local father of three, who took a header in 2007, breaking fingers, dislocating his shoulder and, most significantly, suffering a concussion.

The CAT scan for Pat Johnston was clear: no swelling, no brain bleed. But he continued to suffer symptoms for more than a year: nausea, headaches, sensitivity to light and sound.

The experience has changed the way he thinks about his life.

“I feel like I’ve used up my bullets,” Johnston says. “I can’t afford another concussion.”

Turmoil in land of zombie subdivisions
DRIGGS, Idaho – In the last decade, Teton County has become a poster child for the bankruptcy of carte blanche land development. The result has been what is called zombie subdivisions, or approved projects, now sitting empty.

It’s a beautiful valley, once called Pierre’s Hole, separated from Jackson Hole by the Teton Range. Unlike Jackson, with its easy access to Yellowstone and Grand Teton, Driggs and other communities have struggled economically.

Early in the last decade, as the real estate frenzy mounted, developers came calling, and many potato-and-barley farmers were only too ready to cash out and enjoy the good life. Some of this was overflow from Jackson Hole.

But, to the alarm of some people, big farms distant from the valley’s few small towns — Driggs, Victor and tiny Tetonia – were being subdivided with little thought to impacts on roads, wildlife and other environmental and economic considerations. Battle lines blurred, but there was a battle of old vs. new; Democrats vs. Republicans.

Then, in 2007, Democrats and pro-planning forces prevailed – just as the economy began tumbling. One impulse was to be even more libertine in land use, approving even more. But ultimately the voices for more restraint prevailed, and the county has tried to undo some of the damage done.

In all this debate, elections have consistently been close, revealing a community that is almost exactly divided.

Last November, with the economy still sluggish, the old guard prevailed, and the outcome of that public vote is a 2-to-1 majority for Republicans in the county commission chambers.

The Teton Valley Citizen reports that the majority of commissioners have concluded that a compromise will be to replace one of two county planners with someone who better reflects the values of the older and mostly Republican residents.

“One of our planners needs to be let go so we can bring in someone else to help our community heal,” said Commissioner Sid Kunz.

It was a compromise, he insisted. “I’m not saying get rid of both and cater to every farmer,” although that seemed to be his druthers.

The valley has about 1,200 residents and 8,000 subdivided lots. The Lincoln Institute has estimated that it could take 40 or 50 years for the real estate market to absorb that many units.

Smokers would be shooed from public
KETCHUM, Idaho – Ketchum elected officials in mid-April are expected to take up a proposal that if approved, would further shoo smokers away from public places.

The law would prohibit smoking in all public parks and buildings, businesses where people are employed, and hotel and motel rooms. Also: within 20 feet of bus stops.

Smoking would still be allowed in privately owned outdoor spaces, such as sidewalk cafes, and on sidewalks and other city rights of way, and private homes.

Paid parking returns to Banff discussion
BANFF, Alberta – Paid parking has returned to the Banff conversation. A plebiscite in 2002 soundly defeated the idea, but it has returned to the public dialogue after a transportation consultant identified it as one of several ways to address traffic woes.

During peak periods, the population triples. But up to 30 percent of the traffic volume is created by people driving around, looking for a parking spot. The report says most visitors to Banff, the townsite within the national park, stay less than five hours.

Jackson task force wants free charges
JACKSON, Wyo. – Just three electric cars are registered in Teton County, but officials in Jackson hope that will change. The Jackson Hole Energy Sustainability Project is recommending that four charging stations be set up for public use. In addition to the cost of $23,000 for installation, allowing a car to charge for three hours would cost the town about 40 cents.

 

– Allen Best