15:45 Dec 22, 2008 

Hell Fuad. To some extent I agree with you. But as the writer of this piece is using CROOK, he/she describes his/her character as such for reasons he/she knows otherwise he/she would have used "criminal" instead! May be he/she wants the reader to feel sympathy for that character!
In this context the guy is a drug dealer- If I'm not mistaken. he makes a living by dishonest methods.
And as I said, I partially agree with you since dealing in drugs is a big crime. All depends on the intention of the author.
Thx for ur sound comments Mr. Fouad. They are always to the point:)

16:27 Dec 21, 2008 

Both answers given so far are half-way correct.

A crook is "one who makes a living by dishonest methods" (American Heritage Dictionary), so, it usually can be translated
محتال أو نصاب
But in this case, we know from the context that the man is simply a criminal. He leads a life of crime, including drug operations. So مجرم is more appropriate.

The adjective "small-time" means one who does not amount to a great deal. A small-time criminal is one who usually handles small operations. The adjective حقير may be accurate, but it sounds more like an insult than a description. The expression غير ذي شأن provides just the right tone.

In my opinion the right translation is a composite of the two answers given so far:

مجرم غير ذي شأن