Further thought would also have to be given to the current quantitative and monetary thresholds imposed by section 2319(b) for felony prosecution.

In 1981, 13 percent of felony prosecutions were connected to drugs, and the percentage rose to 53 percent in 1986.

There have been a handful of serious cases, the first phases of some felony prosecutions.

Mr. Kilgore said that the case represented the first felony prosecution in the nation specifically using an antispam law.

AP reported that during her tenure, "the jurisdiction has seen a 15 percent increase in felony prosecutions and convictions.

As of July, the investigators must be accompanied by state or federal police officers or face a felony prosecution.

"Probably only a couple of hundred people in a year and we have hundreds of thousands of felony prosecutions each year."

But there have been some felony prosecutions involving malicious mistreatment or torture of farm animals.

The attorney general's office said it was New York's first felony prosecution of an employer on charges of failing to pay required wages.

In his eight years in the office, he rose through the ranks, eventually overseeing felony prosecutions and narcotics investigations.