Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

When we left off yesterday, Attorney Sam’s Take was discussing the concept of conspiracies. In a criminal conspiracy one merely needs to act in furtherance of the overall conspiracy in order to be charged as being part of that conspiracy. Let’s assume, for example, that there is a drug trafficking conspiracy going on between Boston, Massachusetts, and Barbados. In the conspiracy, the drugs are brought in from Barbados in flown to various locations in the United States. In one particular event, the plane needs to land in Boston.

Let’s say that Freddy Flyer owns an airplane which he keeps, naturally, in an airplane hangar. Let’s also say he makes an arrangement with the drug delivery man to have his plane out of the hanger on a given night so that they can park the drugs in there while they preparing them for sale. In such a case, Freddy would be part of the drug conspiracy. As a part of that conspiracy, he Can be charged with actions taken by other people in the furtherance of the conspiracy. for example, if, in order to get the plane to bring the drugs over, the pilot had to steal the plane. In this case, Freddie could be held liable for the theft of the plane.

Now let’s move Freddy to a position a little more removed. Let’s say that he was not aware that the reason he was supposed to move the plane was because of the delivery of drugs. However, it turns out that the circumstances in which Freddy met with the drug delivery man were so suspicious that he really should have known what was going on. In fact, it is difficult to believe that he did not know what was going on. This is when the federal theory of “willful blindness” comes into play. Another way to put “willful blindness” is to say “looking the other way”. To break it down further, the law considers taking an attitude like “look, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” as just about as good as knowingly and willingly joining in the conspiracy.

I actually handled one such case in federal court in Boston. We were fortunate enough to win that trial. Others, similarly situated, were not. The bottom line is that these theories have teeth. They can bring about a conviction.

We began this topic by discussing the federal multi defendant bust which recently took place. I was talking about becoming nervous when people not involved in an alleged criminal conspiracy are swept up in the large scale fancy named operation to attack the conspiracy.

Let’s say that Jerry Janitor works at a particular school in Boston. He opens and closes the building. Occasionally, Donnie and Dorena Drugdealer use the basement when the building is closed to prepare drugs for sale. On this particular night, Connie Conspirator started flirting with Jerry and invited him out for drinks. She is so intoxicating herself, that she is able to distract him from remembering to lock up the school building when he leaves at night. Donnie and Darina go into the building and begin to work. An hour or so later, the police raid takes place. Darina and Donnie are, of coarse, arrested.

But now, the police want to know how they got into the building. They learned that Jerry was supposed to have locked up the building but, this particular night, he failed to do so. Jerry explains about the beautiful Connie. However, the investigators are unimpressed. They decide that he left the building unlocked so that the drug dealers could come in. Therefore, he is Considered part of the conspiracy.

“But Sam, is there really enough to convict Jerry?”

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As you have probably heard, there was a rather large federal bust which took place toward the end of last week. When the dust settled, thirty people were facing charges in a crackdown on two street gangs who allegedly terrorized folks in the Bowdoin-Geneva section of Dorchester as well as the Uphams Corner section of Roxbury.

The federal prosecutor, who was facing her own bad press at the moment, released the statement, “This community has been in desperate need of reprieve from the violence. We hope the arrests and prosecution of the defendants will quiet the streets and improve the quality of life for all residents.”

As you undoubtedly know, there has been a rash of violence taking place on the Boston-area streets and this massive bust has probably been in the works for a long time. In fact, United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz revealed that over 300 law enforcement officers (ranging from federal to local agencies) executed search warrants and made arrests in what officials have named “Operation Concord”. The operation focused on violence and drug distribution by the Woodward Avenue and Hendry Street gangs, prosecutors said. It dated back to drug traffic in the summer of 2011.

Most of the people arrested were arrested locally. Two were already in custody, one was arrested in California and one in Maine. One last one is still a fugitive.

According to law enforcement, those arrested were allegedly involved in gang, gun, and drug activity. They were allegedly controlled by two young men believed to be leaders of the Hendry Street gang and the Woodward Avenue Gang. These leaders were allegedly responsible for distribution of large amounts of crack cocaine, oxycodone pills, and marijuana.
All of the defendants have been held without bail.

The Reverend Richard “Doc” Conway, a Dorchester Catholic priest whose parish includes some of the streets affected, said he was relieved to hear police had moved to arrest violent gang members from the area.

“Any time you get guns off the streets that’s a plus,” he said. “And when you cut down rivalries between gangs and get the leaders off the street, that’s good for the neighborhood.”
Emmett Folgert, who runs the Dorchester Youth Collaborative in Fields Corner, said busting up two major gangs could have a ripple effect on smaller groups that often take their cues from older gang leaders.

Major arrests of gang leaders impact “not only the areas that these guys were operating out of but areas where their rivals are,” Folgert said. “It turns the temperature down. It’s a multiplier effect.”

Mayor Thomas M. Menino called it “a great day for the hardworking people of Bowdoin-Geneva and Uphams Corner.”

So…everyone, other than those arrested, see the mass arrest as a good thing.

But I’ve got to wonder…
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