When Democratic California congressional candidate Will Rollins boasts of having taken on "the Sinaloa cartel to stop drug trafficking" during his time as a federal prosecutor, it may be instructive to consider the case of one central California drug dealer named Rodney Michael Haskins.
In 2010, Haskins threw a wooden desk at a woman, knocking her to the floor and breaking the desk. He held her by the arms and slammed her body against the floor, then grabbed her hair and did the same to her head, according to court records. The victim was hospitalized, and Haskins was convicted of a domestic violence felony.
Six years later, in August 2016, Haskins was caught selling 130 grams of meth—about 1,000 doses worth—for $1,550 across two deals. He faced two distribution charges, one carrying up to 40 years in prison, the other a life sentence.
By then, Haskins had racked up an epic criminal rap sheet. In addition to the domestic violence felony, his prior convictions included two more drug dealing charges, battery of an officer, disorderly conduct, driving with a suspended license, driving while intoxicated, and failure to appear.
Rollins, then the assistant U.S. attorney assigned to the 2016 meth case, included these details in a court filing that laid out a lenient plea deal he made with Haskins. Rollins dropped the lesser charge—distribution of at least 5 grams of meth—and in exchange, Haskins pleaded guilty to distributing at least 50 grams.
But according to sentencing guidelines, Haskins still faced a potential sentence of life in prison. As Rollins told the court, Haskins was a recidivist meth dealer.
"Clearly, none of defendant's prior convictions or periods of incarceration deterred him from committing the instant offense, which once again involved methamphetamine," Rollins wrote. "Defendant committed a serious drug trafficking offense involving a substantial quantity of narcotics, and he is a Career Offender."
But Rollins still pushed for a lighter sentence—less than 13 years in prison. He told the court that 22 years, the low end of the sentencing guidelines, "may be greater than necessary to deter defendant from committing future crimes or to protect the public given defendant's age and prior terms of incarceration," Rollins wrote.
The court agreed with Rollins and let off Haskins, then 51, with an even easier punishment. He was sentenced to the mandatory minimum—10 years in prison, with 5 years of supervised release—and ordered to participate in an outpatient substance abuse program.
Now, Rollins, 39, is running as a Democrat in California's 41st Congressional District against longtime incumbent Ken Calvert (R.), 71, in a tight rematch. Rollins, considered a top overperformer in 2022, lost by less than 5 percentage points in the last election. This time around, redistricting has swapped in far-left Palm Springs for some of California's traditionally conservative Inland Empire, making the district a toss-up.
The former assistant U.S. attorney has made public safety a top issue, touting what he claims is his tough-on-crime prosecutorial record. Rollins's campaign, however, hasn't provided evidence to support that claim, and an exhaustive Washington Free Beacon review found he repeatedly made lenient plea deals. Several of these generous plea deals involved dealers in methamphetamine, a scourge of central California that has created a public health crisis for the region's gay community.
Rollins, who's openly gay and lives in Palm Springs, which is believed to have the country's largest per capita gay population, says he "served in law enforcement to keep our communities safe from drug traffickers and gangs." But the Haskins case wasn't a one-off: Rollins helped a slew of meth dealers secure cushy plea deals, the Free Beacon review of dozens of court records found. They were caught pushing thousands of doses of meth across central California.
Rollins says he wants to strengthen law enforcement task forces to target gang crime. But when a meth-peddling gang member faced life in prison in December 2016, Rollins successfully convinced the court to sentence him to just 10 years.
Rollins's campaign platform also includes tighter gun control measures, but he dropped firearm charges for two dealers. The Democrat also dropped some charges and offense levels for an illegal immigrant who helped sell two pounds of meth—enough for some 9,000 doses—and a dealer who left his children in his car alone with a customer while he went to collect drugs for the transaction.
The pattern of leniency came as the stakes in the meth trade steadily rose. Mexican cartels are now America's primary meth manufacturers, importers, and distributors. The drug is increasingly cut with fentanyl—the powerful synthetic opioid driving America's overdose epidemic that cartels also traffic into the United States. The drug takes a brutal toll on its addicts. Chronic meth use can cause violent behavior and psychotic features such as paranoia, aggression, and hallucinations, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The generous plea deals Rollins struck in the meth cases are only the most recent examples of his persistently soft-on-crime prosecutorial record. The notorious "bleach bandit" David Lohr, for example, faced 60 years in prison after repeatedly dousing groceries in bleach in a two-state poisoning spree, but Rollins helped reduce Lohr's sentence to just over 4 years, the Free Beacon reported. Part of Lohr's sentence included mental health treatment for an unspecified period, even though Rollins admitted that Lohr, a schizophrenic, had a history of violence and of abandoning his care plans.
Rollins has also repeatedly touted his record prosecuting Jan. 6 "insurrectionists." But after exhaustive research, the Free Beacon found only one case tied to Rollins—the curious case of eyelash store owner Gina Bisignano. Known as the "Beverly Hills insurrectionist," Bisignano, whose case is still pending, is famous for standing outside the Capitol on January 6 in a Louis Vuitton sweater and Chanel boots, shouting into a megaphone, "You are not going to take away our Trumpy Bear!"
Rollins did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
'Methamphetamine Capital of the United States'
Meth abuse became an increasing problem nationwide while Rollins was an assistant U.S. attorney. It has also been a decades-long issue for central California, where Rollins served as a prosecutor, and for the gay community, a group that Rollins has sworn to protect.
The number of meth users grew from 1.1 million to 1.7 million—a 55 percent increase—between 2016 and 2019, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). That period covered the majority of Rollins's time as a prosecutor.
The Central District of California, where Rollins worked, called the Riverside and San Bernardino County areas the "methamphetamine capital of the United States" as far back as 2001, and the problem remains critical. In Riverside County in 2022—Rollins's home the year after he left the Department of Justice—meth was involved in nearly two-thirds of overdose deaths, more than even fentanyl, according to the Riverside University Health System.
Meth also disproportionately harms the gay community. Rollins has promised to "protect all LGBTQ+ Americans," if elected to Congress, and has attacked Calvert as a bigot.
In July 2023, he told the Washington Blade, the oldest LGBT newspaper in the country, that Calvert has a "pattern of bigoted behavior towards the LGBTQ community." During his 2022 campaign, Rollins called Calvert homophobic and anti-LGBTQ.
But through his plea deals, Rollins helped the criminals who were pushing meth.
In 2015, the year before Rollins started at the Justice Department, SAMHSA found that meth use was four times more prevalent among gay men than straight men. Only inhalants had a higher disproportionate use. Gay men who use meth, which can cause reckless behavior, are also far more likely to contract HIV, according to a 2020 study, while 2018 research found the drug makes the virus even more harmful.
9,000 Meth Doses, a 100 MPH Getaway—And a Plea Deal
The meth dealers Rollins helped weren't merely small-time street peddlers. Besides Haskins, three were caught selling—not merely possessing—significant amounts likely far too large for a single user. A fourth was part of a gang and didn't have paraphernalia like pipes on him, suggesting he was selling and not using, according to police.
Mario Moya Jr. offered Omar Flores a small baggie of meth and cash as payment for helping with a Dec. 2016 drug deal, according to court records. Ultimately, Moya would provide Flores with nearly two pounds of meth, or some 9,000 doses, which he would then sell to a woman at a Cabazon, Calif., gas station for $4,200.
Moya watched the deal go bad from his car. The customer was actually a police source. Squad cars flooded in, and officers began arresting Flores. Moya punched the gas and led police on a 100 MPH chase. He successfully evaded law enforcement but was later arrested at his home.
Moya and Flores, who illegally entered the United States in 2004, were each indicted on charges related to distribution of at least 500 grams of meth and faced potential life sentences. Moya, already a felon, was also facing a gun charge, which carried a maximum sentence of 10 years. The police source also told investigators about having seen Moya involved in a 6-pound and a 8-to-10-pound meth deal.
But Rollins helped the pair score plea deals. He dropped the conspiracy count against Flores and reduced the distribution charge, though Flores still faced up to 20 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.
The U.S. Probation Office recommended a seven-year sentence. Rollins noted Flores's illegal border crossing and prior misdemeanor convictions but suggested dropping Flores's sentence to less than six years with three years of probation. He pointed to Flores's steady employment as an electrician and meth addiction to justify the reduced sentence. In October 2017, Flores was sentenced to four years in prison and drug rehab.
Moya was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with 5 years' probation, after pleading guilty to the distribution charges. He was also ordered to participate in an outpatient substance abuse program upon release.
Gang Tattoos and a Dropped Gun Charge
Rollins is pushing for tighter gun control measures, such as background checks for purchasers with violent histories and red-flag laws, and he wants police to prioritize fighting gang crime. But when Justin Robert Burkett, a known gang member, was caught with meth and a stolen firearm in December 2016, Rollins helped him score a sweetheart deal.
Burkett was speeding in a stolen Chrysler on a suspended license when a California Highway Police officer stopped him, court documents show. The police searched the car and found more than 120 grams of meth and a loaded .38 caliber revolver hidden under the floor.
Burkett was indicted on one count of possession and intent to distribute meth and one count of possessing a firearm in the furtherance of a drug crime. He was looking at a life sentence for the drug charge and at least five years for the gun crime.
In exchange for a guilty plea, Rollins dropped the firearm charge. He did so while noting a series of Burkett's prior arrests in a sentencing memorandum: endangering a child, assault or battery on school property, threatening a crime with the intent to terrorize, a hit-and-run, and possessing a loaded firearm while in possession of methamphetamine.
Rollins also cited another arrest: participating in a street gang. In fact, Burkett sports tattoos for the Westside VLP gang, to which police said he belonged, according to court documents. And when law enforcement went to search his residence, another Westside VLP member came out wielding a machete, dropping it when he saw the intruders were police officers.
Still, because Burkett had no prior convictions, Rollins recommended just 10 years in prison, the mandatory minimum. The court agreed.
A Family Affair Meth Deal
Juan Carlos Garcia bragged about the purity of his meth while setting up a 2012 meeting with a customer—apparently a confidential police source. Garcia, with his kids in the backseat, parked his car at a laundromat. The phony customer entered the car and gave him nearly $3,500. Garcia left the vehicle to retrieve 80 grams of meth from the supplier's car two spaces away.
Garcia pleaded guilty to the lesser of two charges—possession with intent to distribute at least five grams of meth—and faced up to 40 years in prison. Rollins dropped the second charge, distribution of at least 50 grams of meth, which would have carried a life prison sentence.
Rollins pointed out that Garcia had had his probation revoked after he failed to complete a domestic batterers program, ordered after he was convicted of a domestic battery charge. But the prosecutor said at least some of Garcia’s criminal history could be blamed on his "childhood in the midst of the violence of El Salvador's civil war."
Rollins recommended that Garcia serve seven years in prison and four years' probation, though the defendant was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison, the mandatory minimum.