Articles Posted in Drug Offenses

On Friday, we began the tale of two gents who went from routine Massachusetts traffic stop to a whole mess of legal trouble.

You see, Blake Balway and Michael Scanlan (hereinafter, collectively, the “Defendants”) had been stopped while driving. Neither had valid driver’s licenses. Therefore, in accordance with police procedure, the officers decided to impound the truck until someone with a license could come and get it.

Impoundment meant an inventory search. It was the product, or products, of that search that changed the vehicle to impounded truck to piece of evidence.

Wellesley police Lieutenant Marie Cleary tells us that, “Officer Cunningham located a container in the vehicle that had a glass pipe, which he recognized as those used to smoke illegal drugs.” And, of course, where there is smoke, law enforcement generally hopes to find fire.

Apparently, they did.

Lt. Cleary claims that officers found bags of crystal methamphetamine, more than 170 grams, which is worth an estimated $50,000.

But that was not all that they found.
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Are Massachusetts prosecutors no longer prosecuting illegal drug cases?

There are some people in Massachusetts who seem to believe that their difficulties obtaining and using marijuana are about to become a thing of the past. They see the recent decriminalization of pot and actual legalization of medicinal marijuana to have simplified their lives.

Unfortunately, things do not really work that way. At least, not in the criminal justice system. In fact, the new laws (once they are both finalized) are likely to set many people up for disaster and complicate the situation.

At least, unless you understand the issues.

Attorney Sam’s Take will be following the development of these issues and post several blogs on this subject matter so that we may not only alert you, our readers, but also so we can best represent our clients. There are many types of folks who simply, for medical or other reasons, want to imbibe in marihuana…if they can do so legally. At least, they want to know whether doing so places them at risk.

We plan to be at the forefront of the issue…aiding our clients in setting up all that must be set in order for them to obtain medical marijuana and helping them illuminate the risks.

One major question, of course, will be how one gets a dispensary license and a prescription card. Another will be what one can do with otherwise-legally obtained marijuana at home and in the street. For example, can you share it with a sick friend who is in pain?
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This Sunday, the Chelsea Police Department had occasion to come to the aid of a suffering Venezuelan man. Well, sort of.

It seems the man, 40-year-old Luis Sanabria-Morales (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was found at the Wynham Boston Chelsea Hotel to be suffering from a potential overdose in a room which was supposed to be vacated that day.

The police came to the scene and found the Defendant. They then transported him to Whidden Hospital in Everett where he remains hospitalized…but also under arrest. You see, while treating him, the Defendant was allegedly found to have swallowed balloons or condoms that had been filled with heroin.

Some of these packages have been recovered, but there is belief that more may still be in his system. So…to some extent…it is a waiting game.

The local district attorney’s office tells us that “Condoms are used as a holding device. He could have used a combination” of condoms and balloons. The spokesperson also added that both ways are commonly used to conceal drugs.

Finally, the prosecutor’s office has announced that there was enough heroin for Sanabria-Morales to be charged with drug trafficking.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Issues Of Proof In Drug Cases

Believe it or not, this is not an unusual way to transport drugs. As such, it is no longer unsuspected by law enforcement . Of course, it is also not the safest way to transport the drugs. Sometimes the condom breaks. When that happens it is often a race for law enforcement in what happens next…the arrest or the death of the carrier.

Such a race was apparently present in this case.
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So, how was your halloween experience this year?

Well, no matter how good or bad it was, you probably had a better time than Chelsea’s Miguel Antonio Rivera, 35 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”).

Let’s put it this way…instead of candy, he was given the Commonwealth bracelets of shame. Then, after his subsequent bail hearing, he was ordered held on $200,000 cash bail.

The Defendant’s road to incarceration began in East Boston. According to law enforcement, state and Boston police officers were working off a tip which led them to the Defendant and another man, 49-year-old Santa Cruz of Norwalk, Conneticuit (hereinafter, the “Driver”).

Prosecutors say that the Boston police were doing surveillance on Sumner Street when they saw the black minivan with Maryland plates parked on the wrong side of the road and then make an illegal turn after picking up Rivera.

A pair of state troopers are said to have approached the vehicle, demanding the occupants to get out.

The Defendant, the passenger, refused to get out and, according to the police, instead tried hiding a duffel bag inside one of the van’s compartments before the troopers pulled him out.
Inside the bag, police said they found 15 wrapped bricks of heroin, weighing just under 43 pounds. Authorities price the bag’s content as worth about Five Million Dollars.
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Yesterday we discussed the recent car-stop-turned-drug-bust in which two people were arrested. The driver seems to have been arrested for driving without a license while the passenger (hereinafter, “Mr. Stoner”), was arrested for the usual jitney of drug possession crimes.

Once this amount is seized, not to mention a scale and money, the assumption is that the possession was for the purpose of trafficking, not simply earning Mr. Stoner’s name.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Possession And Criminal Charges

One of the first things an experienced criminal defense attorney does upon hearing of a case like this is to look at the stop itself. Was it a legal stop? What, if any, evidence could be suppressed.

We discussed that yesterday.

While there are still many details in the matter about which I do not know, there are a few potential trial strategies already apparent.
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Regardless of what you thought would happen after Massachusetts decriminalized marijuana…law enforcement continues to look for it. When a lot of it is found, well, that’s when police take a bow.

Even if it is found totally by accident.

Like the new Human Trafficking statute about which we have been talking earlier this week, there is still a way for police to tout the discovery of marijuana as a “win”. This is especially true when money is recovered as well as a large amount of the drug.

Let’s take, for example, the case of the 31-year-old Boston man ironically named Thomas Stoner. He was stopped in a routine traffic stop in Cambridge on Monday and police say they discovered more than they expected. They found a pound of marijuana and more than $1,000 in the vehicle he was riding in.
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Sometimes, when reviewing stories for the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, I come across stories which almost make me speechless. Of course, that is a terrible thing for an experienced criminal defense attorney to be. Fortunately, Attorney Sam’s Take is written, not spoken.

In any event, this is one of those stories.

It concerns 53-year-old Juan Antonetty of Lowell (hereinafter, “Defendantx2” and his most recent trip to the Lowell District Court today.

You see, Defendantx2 had a pending drug case. He had been charged by police with possessing with the intent to distribute the class A drug, heroin. Yesterday, he was showing up in court for his Arraignment.

It is normal to want to put your best foot forward at an arraignment. After all, it is the first time you are showing up in court to answer on charges and, of course, there is that pesky bail issue that could come up.

On the other hand, for other folks, going to court for whatever reason may simply be a regular occurrence so that the time for making a good impression is a thing of distant history.
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…And the wheels on the criminal justice machine continue. including drug cases. Despite the recent Boston Crime Lab debacle don’t think for a minute that the Commonwealth is slowing down in its criminal investigations into drug dealing. Of course, some cases appear to be more stereotypical than others.

You have no doubt heard about the stereotypical love of Dunkin’ Donuts that law enforcement is supposed to have. I don’t know what level of truth there is in that, but I do know that when I go to DD’s, there is usually a police presence. And I don’t think that they are after me….

One Framingham DD got alittle more police attention than it wanted earlier this week. Law enforcement claims that at said restaurant, the menu included more than coffee, pastry and sandwiches. An employee, 18-year-old Anthony Buskey (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was allegedly making a little money on the side by selling marijuana out of the shop.
Yesterday, the Defendant pleaded not guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He was released on personal recognizance.

Officers say that they had received a tip about the drug trafficking. They then set up a sting operation targeting the marijuana side-busyness.

Sure enough, they say they saw the Defendant leave the DD and get into a car with two men and conduct what appeared to be a drug deal. The officers moved in and searched the car.

Marijuana was said to be found.

Now they just have to find a working lab in which to test it.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Search, Seizure And Drug Dealing

“Wait a minute, Sam. I thought possession of a small amount of pot was no longer illegal”.

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I raised the issue of whether something was being done regarding the current Massachusetts drug lab fiasco other than arresting the scandal’s star performer Annie Dookhan (“Exchemist”).

Well, we know that there is an investigation going on…limited though it may be. We know that District Attorneys are sickend at folks gaining their freedom and warning the general public that the end of civilization as we’ve known it is coming.

Some of us are still waiting to see what, if anything, will be done to prevent this sort of thing from happenning again and really fixing 1/2 of the criminal justice system.

We, by the way, doubt it.

However, the court is making some changes in order to adjust to the inflow of cases which this debacle has brought.

Robert Mulligan, chief justice of the state trial court, pledged last week to use every possible resource to make sure these cases, numbering into the thousands, will be dealt with expeditiously.
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Welcome to October and, with the new month, we have even more developments in the Commonwealth’s drug lab scandal. Attorney Sam’s Take is happy to tell you that actual law enforcement actions are being taken!

First of all, the former chemist at the center of the controversy, Annie Dookhan (the “Exchemist”) has been arrested on preliminary charges. According to Attorney General Martha Coakley, more charges may well be coming.

Exchemist’s admitted mishandling and falsifying drug samples and testing results prompted the shutdown of the Hinton State Laboratory Institute in Boston last month and resulted in the resignation of three officials, including the state’s public health commissioner.

Oh…and, as discussed all last week, her deeds has also thrown the Massachusetts criminal justice system, at least in terms of drug cases, into crisis.

The extent? So far, the Commonwealth indicates that 34-year-old Exchemist handled more than 60,000 drug samples involving 34,000 defendants during her nine years at the lab.

The lab in which she worked has been closed.

More than a dozen drug defendants are back on the street while defense attorneys challenge the charges based on Exchemist’s alleged misconduct. Authorities say more than 1,100 inmates are currently serving time in cases in which Exchemist was the primary or secondary chemist.

On Friday, Exchemist pleaded not guilty the court set her bail at $10,000. As special bail conditions, she was also ordered to turn over her passport, submit to GPS monitoring, and not have contact with any former or current employees of the lab.

She stands charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and pretending to hold a degree for college or university. As such, she faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted.

So far.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced and explained the charges at a press conference on Friday. She said that the two obstruction charges accuse Exchemist of lying about drug samples she analyzed at the lab in March 2011 for a Suffolk County case, and for testifying under oath in August 2010 that she had a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts.

Wait a minute…obstruction for only one month…over a year ago ???

Attorney Sam’s Take On Sacrificial Defendants

Before you assume that the Attorney General has a problem with her memory, be assured that she has also announced that more charges may well be coming as the investigation continues.
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