Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said his office ramped up the severity of sentencing for drug dealers and related crimes, and boasted a 90 percent conviction rate for vote fraud in 2007.

"I've lived in Gary and East Chicago most of my life," he said. "You can see the core of the disruption and problems we have in urban areas are because of drugs."

The prosecutor's office had 75 drug convictions from September through December, Lake County court statistics show. Of those, 49 defendants were sentenced to prison.

An East Chicago drug dealer who sold cocaine to an informant in front of her children received 33 years in prison, the harshest drug sentencing in that time period, the records show.

Sidney Kincaid, 27, was convicted of selling 3.9 grams of cocaine to an informant in front of her children on Aug. 5, 2006.

Carter said he believes 75 percent of the crimes that come through criminal court are drug-related, including defendants who are high while committing crimes or buying, selling or fighting over drugs.

"I made it very clear to my attorneys and the court system that anyone dealing drugs should go to jail with no exceptions," he said. "You don't need to be slapped on the wrist. You need to be locked up."

In 2007, the prosecutor's office also had a 90 percent conviction rate in 53 vote fraud cases, statistics show.

The joint effort with the attorney general, prosecutors and state police focused on the scandal-plagued 2003 East Chicago mayoral primary. That election spawned the multijurisdictional Vote Fraud Task Force and 38 convictions by mid-December.