This morning we have a sad story of a young man with limitless potential who is now heading to jail. Georgetown law student Marc Gersen was Phi Beta Kappa at Georgetown and a champion debater who secured a scholarship to study at the University of California, Berkeley. He then entered Georgetown law school and worked with prisoners in the D.C. jail. That work however may have been a bit too close. Gersen was arrested and accused of using a social network to sell methamphetamine.
Gerson, 31, was arrested selling methamphetamine outside Beacon Hotel in Northwest Washington. In his exchange with the court in his sentencing hearing, Gerson said that he was using the drugs himself and that his sideline as a drug dealer took over his life. He appears to have become addicted to drug while in graduate school at Berkeley and later began selling methamphetamine. While he earned a master’s degree in economics, he dropped out of the doctoral program.
He was arrested for felony possession of ecstasy in California in 2009 and then later charged again with drug possession in 2010. It is not clear if these arrests were disclosed to Georgetown.
While at Georgetown, Gerson went to California several times to purchase methamphetamine and worked with others to distribute the drugs. Then the operation collapsed during Thanksgiving when Gersen was back in Florida with his family. Gersen learned that D.C. police had searched the 18th Street apartment he shared with his then-roommate and co-conspirator, Michael Talon. They found a small amount of methamphetamine, packaging materials and chemicals used to manufacture the drug GHB. Gersen returned to D.C. and withdrew $70,000 in cash from a safe-deposit box and transferred it to his mother. It is not clear where his mother thought this money came from but she was not charged. Gersen however did not do the logical thing and stop his operation. Instead, police got a tip that he was dealing at the Beacon Hotel. Police found more than 500 grams of methamphetamine.
Louis Michael Seidman, a Georgetown professor, wrote to the court on Gersen’s behalf, asking the court for mercy for “an extraordinary young man who has made some extraordinary mistakes.”
Gersen will now go to jail for four years by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton.
It is a sad case of wasted talent.
In terms of a different form of talent, the “Wingador” eating champ has been indicted on drug charges. Five-time wing-eating champion known as “El Wingador” has been indicted in New Jersey on cocaine distribution charges. William Simmons is charged with four counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance and one count of manufacturing or distribution of more than a half ounce of cocaine.
Source: Washington Post
It is sad that anyone gets addicted to Meth. Gerson warrants less sympathy precisely because he is so bright. He was dealing. A pusher is a pusher. How many other lives did he help ruin?
“On the other hand, it could be argued that he got off too easy. Here’s one opinion from a reader, responding to defenders of Gersen:
Wow. The rationalization going on here is mind-boggling. Addiction is a mental health problem that we don’t address well enough. Dealing is an exploitation of that mental health problem for profit. Might feel sympathy for him on the first, not for the second. Methinks that if the meth dealer had been an inner-city kid who turned to meth, and then to dealing, to escape the fact that he had few good options for success in life, rather than a pretty white boy who started using meth when he blew his dissertation and threw away every opportunity given him, he wouldn’t be getting off with a 4-year sentence, a comfy prison close to mommy and daddy, and a sympathetic article in the Washington Post.” Above the Law
SWM, I’m w/ you. But my take on the tone of the piece was that it was elitist. Meth dealers are supposed to be hillbillies and crack dealers gang bangers. Actually, there are quite a few “upscale” meth dealers since it is the drug of choice for the gay community. Got to stay skinny if you’re gay, otherwise you’re in the lower caste.
So there’s the disconnect. Somehow to a bunch of folks this becomes the equivalent of white collar crime. Horrible, inconceivable, tragic. But if it’s some blue collar due, well, just another low life doing what low life’s do.
Many would say that it is heartless, vengeful, and cold not to particularly weep over this guy. But I’ve worked with too many addicts over time to fall for that. Even in treatment. for god sakes, many “white collar” types predictably try to set up the “I’m better than you” scam. And, to be honest, most others don’t buy it.
I don’t want to get into a big head about this, but it is valid to note significant behavioral traits among folks addicted to different classes of drugs. So not all stereotypes are universally true for all addicts and abusers.
I wonder what his student loan debt is. That seventy grand could pay off some debts. It should be a condition of parole when he gets out of stir.
” One former Georgetown Law classmate of Gersen’s took issue with the article for that reason:
I thought the article was almost dishonestly positive. I don’t think most people would describe him as “brilliant.” Social awkwardness aside, he was sorta rude / obnoxious… often missed class… was not a good student. Odd that [Professor] Seidman is quoted in article; maybe he and Seidman became close. I thought he was a jackass to Seidman in 1L lecture. and [Professor] Randy Barnett also couldn’t stand him; Barnett is ultra uptight about starting class on time and not walking in late…. and Marc would stroll in 10 minutes late every single day. It became almost a comedic thing. Barnett would scold him every day and seemed genuinely angry.
I don’t have anything against Marc personally, and I don’t mean to kick him when he’s down. But these are my honest thoughts / observations. The Washington Post piece just [didn’t seem like] an accurate portrait of Marc…. I mean, the guy really did not have his act together at all. In hindsight, this totally makes sense. The whole ‘such a surprise!’ tone of the article seemed off-base.
[I]t’s definitely strange, but on the other hand, if we had to pick a person in the section who was a meth dealer, we would have picked him….” Above the Law
Bob, 29 years here.
I’ve been clean and sober a long time so I can say this.
Q. What’s the difference between an alcoholic and an addict?
An alcoholic will steal your money, spend it on booze, come back, burst into tears and admit he stole the money.
An addict will steal your money, spend it on drugs, come back … and help you look for the money.
“During Thanksgiving break in Florida, Gersen learned that the D.C. police had searched the 18th Street apartment he shared with his then-roommate and co-conspirator, Michael Talon, who has also pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing in April. Officers, acting on a tip, found small amounts of methamphetamine, packaging materials and chemicals used to manufacture the drug GHB, according to court documents.” WaPo article This guy was also making GHB, the date rape drug. It is one thing to be an addict but a manufacturer of the date rape drug.
DonS, I saw the war on drugs was insane back in the 70’s. I worked @ a maximum security Federal prison. And, you could get any drug you were willing to pay for if you were an inmate. It’s basic supply/demand w/ the bonus for the supplier being you NEED their product if you’re addicted.
I agree that this is a waste, but I disagree with the practice that this man should receive a lesser penalty because he is so accomplished in his law studies.
should he fare better before the court than a man who is of average or lesser intelligence who committed the same offense? The less connected, wealthy, and gifted should be just as equal before the eyes of the court. Last I checked common law systems went away from people being acquitted because they could read or had degrees.
“This morning we have a sad story of a young man with limitless potential who is now heading to jail.”
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One is always limited — or liberated — by his character.
I have met a couple of students in college who sold drugs, they were not good people. It doesnt matter how smart you are or how ambitious, you dont sell drugs like meth to people.
We are lucky that nitwit was culled from the heard early, there is no telling the destruction a person like that could achieve with a law degree and a quick smile.
he is a scum bag however you weigh it, brilliance isnt an excuse and doesnt prevent a person from being evil.
At 31, this is a man with a fully formed character. Apparently he isnt as good as his resume may lead one to conclude.
Mike says: “The “War on Drugs” actually creates more addictive behavior than acting as a means to prevent it.”
I think there’s an abundance of evidence to back up that statement. And it also fits in with human psychology.
@Gene: I think you misunderstood my post. My point was that addiction is driven by emotion. If the physical side effects also impair rationality (just like alcohol addiction does), then there is a feedback of relying more and more on emotion, and less and less on rationality.
My younger sister was burned over 60% of her body as a child, the result of a neighborhood prank by teens. She is still (at 48) severely scarred and often in pain; which has led her to a lifetime of various addictions, and the inevitable associations with her fellow addicts and suppliers, and a lifetime of struggling to keep her out of jail. I would not call my relationships with her “friends” intimate, but I have had a few decades of exposure.
Nick S, I don’t think one needs a ‘libertarian mind’ to recognize the war on drugs is a sham. But maybe you weren’t saying that. Or maybe you can convince us otherwise 😉
Promising on paper, but perhaps just another rich sociopath or a suburban hipster whose never had to deal with real consequences. I knew people in college who worked their way through school as marijuana dealers at a time when marijuana uses was very prevalent and laws in our state had been eased. Many of the people who were further up the chain in this world were the children of wealthy families, people in high end businesses that dealt in cash, and people with political connections. It’s easy to see him as part of one of those groups–some of the business people may have needed extra money (it tended to be bust/boom fields like antiques), but the rich kids did it for sport. Fundamentally, he seems no brighter than a dropout from a dysfunctional public school system and he deserves exactly the sam e penalty they would receive.
Meth is the high capacity automatic weapon of drugs. My libertarian mind knows the war on drugs is a sham. But, don’t for one second think all “drugs” are alike..not even close.
“My libertarian mind knows the war on drugs is a sham. But, don’t for one second think all “drugs” are alike..not even close.”
Nick,
All illegal drugs are not equal and to my mind both meth and crack equally sit atop the pile of drugs that are harmful beyond belief. However, if legalized and cheap, their impact on society would be minimized. I remember when heroin sat atop the pile and the glee in the faces of police who announced every new drug bust. All it did was allow the dealers to raise the price and the Junkies having to commit more crimes to pay for their habit.I my opinion addiction in all forms is the result of mental illness, despair, or physical pain. It is a mental and medical issue, rather than a criminal issue.
“It is a mental and medical issue, rather than a criminal issue.”
Good point. Imagine the results if the resources devoted to the war on drugs were applied to research and treatment of drug addiction.
Another aspect of the “War on Drugs”.
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/i-have-watched-people-killed-our-insane-drug-policies?paging=off
Once addiction starts it becomes self-perpetuating and all-consuming and who you were before becomes irrelevant. 500 grams is 17 ounces. That’s a lot of meth and not casual dealing to pay for your own habit.
Addicts always think they’re too clever to get caught. This goes with the territory.That he kept on dealing after the search shows how deep the addiction had its claws in him.
And yes, I have been there… Meth nearly took me down many years ago.