NEWS After Inmate Win, AG Fights On Written by
DANNY WICENTOWSKI
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n January 1, 2017, a sweeping reform of Missouri’s criminal statutes eliminated one the harshest punishments meted out to repeat drug offenders — a special provision that barred the possibility of parole. Enacted in 1989, the provision had the effect of keeping certain drug offenders in prison far longer than other serious felonies. Parole allows the vast majority of convicted criminals— even murderers and rapists — to appear before a parole board, generally after serving around 25 percent of their sentence. The drug offenders were denied that opportunity. In 2014, the state legislature approved numerous revisions to Missouri’s criminal codes, among them those statutes defining the punishment for drug offenses.”No parole” was erased from the books. But the reforms were not considered retroactive, and the new statute did not address the fate of the more than 100 people actively serving no-parole sentences in Missouri prisons because of the old law. One of those inmates, Dimetrious Woods, was featured in a 2016 RFT cover story. Woods is serving a no-parole, 29-year sentence. Before his conviction in 2007 for drug trafficking, prosecutors charged him under the state’s “prior and persistent drug offender” statute, triggering the no parole provision. He was told he would have to serve around 75 percent of his sentence. His conditional release date? Not until October 2029. Yet last month Woods walked out of his first parole hearing. A Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman confirms that he is slated for release — as soon as this month. Woods is not the first no-parole prisoner to assert in court that the 2014 repeal is retroactive, and that it should clear the way for inmates
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Ex-Cop Is in Trouble Written by
DOYLE MURPHY
T
he owner of Ex Cop Donut Shop might want to keep an eye out for his former brothers in blue. Francesco “Frank” Loforte, who is indeed an ex St. Louis city cop, is wanted on a criminal charge of operating his popular Oakville bakery without a retail license, according to court records. He is also facing a civil judgment for stiffing a supplier out of thousands of dollars. Ex Cop Donut Shop was the target of a Missouri Department of Revenue investigation last year. The department had yanked the shop’s retail license in November 2016, records show. It also filed at least four liens totaling more than $2,000 in county court in 2017. On two days in May 2017, a supervisory special agent with the revenue department visited the shop in person and found it was still open for business, even without the license, court records say. A misdemeanor charge of making sales at retail without a license was filed in September 2017 by an assistant St. Louis County prosecutor, and a judge issued a warrant in October when Loforte did not show up for court. Loforte, 53, did not want to talk when reached by phone last week.
like him to face a parole board. But he appears to be the first to persuade a judge. After twelve years of incarceration, Woods, now 38, intends settle in with one of his adult-aged sons in St. Louis. He has a new grandchild to meet. He’s already planning a surprise visit to see his twelve-year-old son at school. But Attorney General Josh Hawley wants to send him back to prison. For years, Woods tried and failed to reverse his 2007 conviction. At trial, Woods’ criminal history — two felonies he’d committed as a teenager — allowed prosecutors to charge him as a prior offender. In 2006, Woods and another man were driving from Kansas City to St.
Ex Cop Donut Shop won kudos for its doughnuts. | BRITTANI SCHLAGER “Why would anyone need to know about my personal business?” he asked. He then said he had provided free doughnut holes for Riverfront Times events. Told that reporters don’t handle events, he hung up. The case is still pending, a spokesman for the prosecuting attorney confirmed. And Ex Cop Donut remains open for business and continues to turn out tasty doughnuts. The shop’s imaginative creations — the maple-bacon long john is particularly popular — have earned it critical praise in St. Louis media, including a few raves here in the RFT. Louis when they were pulled over by the Missouri Highway Patrol. Troopers discovered nearly twenty pounds of cocaine in the car’s trunk. Already on probation for a previous felony, Woods made the questionable decision to fight the charge in court. At a bench trial, a judge ruled Woods guilty and sentenced him to 25 years, to run consecutively with a four -year sentence stemming from violating his probation. No parole. In contrast, Woods’ accomplice struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid trial. He pleaded guilty and was paroled after seven years. After the legislature passed its repeal in 2014, Woods says he contacted the parole office, hoping it would take the legislature’s cue and provide him a parole hearing. The riverfronttimes.com
The coverage usually mentions that Loforte and his wife, Linda, are both former city police officers, who decided to quit chasing crooks in favor of frying dough. The catchy origin story, however, leaves out a troubling bit of background: The state permanently revoked Loforte’s law enforcement license after he was found responsible for “gross misconduct.” Loforte and another officer responded in July 2001 to the scene of a burning car. The engine had caught fire, and the car’s owner ran inside a relative’s house to call for help, acContinued on pg 10 cording to parole office responded that the new law only applied to new crimes. “I started researching retroactivity and parole eligibility issues,” Woods tells RFT. “I knew that it should make sense. How could [the legislature] make such progressive move and it be not applicable to someone like me?” In 2016, Woods exhausted his options for appeal. Looking for the next strategy, he began digging for cases that showed new legislation altering an old parole status. One case stood out: Nixon v. Russell, in which the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that a judge could grant parole eligibility in light of a new law. Most relevant to Woods, however, was the court’s test to deterContinued on pg 10 mine which
MARCH 14-20, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
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