In a separate line of attack on the drug stings, defendants in Chicago and elsewhere have filed motions to require the bureau to provide data on the racial makeup of sting targets, and information on how the agency selects its targets.

In one case, the agency asked the court to dismiss charges rather than be required to comply. In several others, after judges found at least suggestive evidence of racial targeting and approved the data request, the agency has complied, though the information remains under seal.

The goal, defense lawyers say, is to build a case that the bureau engages in racial profiling and selective prosecution, which could result in the dismissal of charges.

Defense lawyers in the Chicago cases calculated that the 25 known stash-house stings in that judicial district since 2006 involved 75 black, 16 Latino and six white defendants. The 13 cases since 2010 involved 45 black defendants, 14 Latinos and one white person.

An unofficial national review of court files by USA Today, published in July, found that nine in 10 of those imprisoned through such stings were black or Hispanic, well above the share of minorities convicted on charges of other federal robbery, gun and drug offenses.

Read more at The New York Times