Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Ivaylo Hristov, a Canadian citizen who has been charged in Norfolk County with Larceny Over $250 and Identity Fraud. The district attorney is alleging that Hristov attached scanners and cameras to ATM machines throughout parts of Massachusetts. This equipment would take and photograph information from bank customer's debit cards and record the PIN numbers as well. Hristov would take the information and place it on a blank card. Thereafter he would use the card to withdraw money from the person's bank account. It is believed that Hristov is working with others and that they have collectively stolen over one hundred thousand dollars. The defendant is being held on one million dollars cash bail set in the Quincy Court.

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Man Caught Stealing Card Information From ATM Machines Charged

Identity Theft and Identity Fraud in Massachusetts

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266 Section 37E makes it a crime to use someone else's identity to either defraud that person or someone else while using that person's identity. This statute makes the maximum sentence for a conviction of this offense two and one half years in the house of correction. It is a misdemeanor and lies within the jurisdiction of the District Court. These cases can be easy for the prosecution to prove in cases where the suspect is videotaped stealing the money. It is even easier in cases such as this one where the suspect is caught with the fake card in his possession and seen trying to engage in the transaction. The larceny charge carries a more severe sentence, five years in state prison. I would imagine that if Hristov is suspected in several other such incidents more charges will follow and the case will be prosecuted in the Superior Court. Hopefully Hristov has hired an Experienced Massachusetts Identity Theft Defense Lawyer who can either find valid defenses to this case or work out a favorable plea deal.

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Last Friday Richard J. Bernier of Byfield, Massachusetts was arrested and charged with Indecent Assault and Battery on a Person Over Fourteen Years of Age. The charges came after one of Bernier's patients changed therapists and learned that Bernier's treatments were unconventional and in her mind amounted to a sexual assault. Specifically, the woman, who suffered from lower back and hip pain complained that the defendant would pull her pants down and massaged her body while she was completely naked. Treatments totaling six or seven visits continued for a three month period. The prosecution further alleged that Bernier made inappropriate comments to the victim after which he made arguably incriminating statements in the presence of his receptionist. The investigation spanned six months. The case will be prosecuted in the Newburyport District Court.

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Physical Therapist Charged With Inappropriate Touching of Patient

Indecent Assault and Battery in Massachusetts

To convict someone of this crime the prosecutor must show that Bernier committed an act or series of acts which are fundamentally offensive to contemporary moral values. He must have engaged in behavior which the common sense of society would regard as immodest, immoral and improper. Specifically, the intentional, unjustified touching of private areas such as the breasts, abdomen, buttocks, thighs, and pubic area of a female constitute an indecent assault and battery. Most cases dealing with indecent assault and battery include the buttocks as a private area that, if intentionally touched, would violate "our contemporary views of personal integrity and privacy."

Here, the district attorney's case rests almost entirely on the credibility of the complaining witness. Experienced Massachusetts Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers will question the timing of the victim's disclosures and any motivation that might underlie her disclosures. The observations of the receptionist will also be of particular interest here. Did she in fact hear Bernier make the statements the victim claims he made? Was she or anyone else present for the treatments and examination? What was the victim's demeanor after the treatments? The answers to these questions might provide fertile viable grounds for Bernier's defense.

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Back in October of 2009 Jewil Guerrero of Boston was identified as a suspect in a drug dealing operation in the South Shore. Just the other day police were conducting surveillance of a Braintree home when they saw Guerrero pull up to the home in minivan and engage in discourse with another man who entered the vehicle. Police then stopped Guerrero's car and found marijuana in his lap. They also found thirty bags of heroin in a bottle in the driver's door armrest. Guerrero was charged with Possession With Intent to Distribute Heroin and Possession With Intent to Distribute Marijuana. The case is now pending in the Quincy District Court.

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South Shore Massachusetts Drug Investigation Results In Arrest

Possession With Intent to Distribute Heroin in Massachusetts

The crime of Possession With Intent to Distribute Heroin is a felony in Massachusetts. This crime can be prosecuted in either the Superior Court or the District Court. The maximum penalty for a conviction is ten years in state prison if the defendant is convicted in the Superior Court and two and one half years if the case stays in the District Court. The facts of this case suggest that a motion to suppress may come into play. The first question a Norfolk County Criminal Defense Lawyer might ask is why did the police stop Guerrero's car. The article is silent on this and if the police were acting on a hunch the stop might be deemed illegal by a judge and the drugs will be suppressed.

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Just two days ago DEA agents from the Bristol County office executed a search warrant at 61 Sunflower Drive, the home of twenty four year old Matthew Alsen. After entering the premises police located Alsen in his bedroom. Supposedly, after inquiry Alsen told the authorities that the drugs were in a closet behind a nightstand. The officers then located a large quantity of marijuana and one hundred fifty six Percocet pills. At the same time officers from Raynham kept a surveillance of Alsen's mother's home. She eventually consented to a search of her home where the officers found over one hundred thousand dollars cash. Bail in the amount of five thousand dollars cash was set in the Taunton District Court where Alsen was charged with Trafficking Oxycodone and Trafficking Marijuana. The case will be prosecuted in the Bristol Superior Court in New Bedford.

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Pot, Oxycontin and $100,000 Cash Seized During Bristol County Raid

For several reasons Alsen needs to hire an Experienced Massachusetts Drug Trafficking Lawyer immediately. While the charges are severe there may be some defenses to this case and with the right Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer the potential damage might be minimized.

Trafficking Marijuana in Massachusetts

To satisfy the minimim for trafficking marijuana in Massachusetts the defendant, Alsen, must have possessed at least fifty pounds of the substance. The district courts have jurisdiction over this amount of marijuana and can sentence someone for up to two and one half years in the house of correction with only one year of that sentence being a minimum mandatory. Depending on the quantity of the marijuana and the oxycodone as addressed below, the future for Alsen might not be as bleak as the article seems to suggest.

Trafficking Oxycodone in Massachusetts

Oxycodone is a Class B substance in Massachusetts. As I have mentioned in several previous posts all trafficking cases in Massachusetts carry a mandatory minimum sentence. The length of the sentence depends on the quantity of the substance trafficked. In this case the prosecution is alleging that the 156 pills constitutes a weight that satisfies the element of weight for trafficking. They may in fact be wrong depending on the number of milligrams of each pill. If these were typical oxycodone pills they were eighty milligrams each. That would not amount to a trafficking weight.

Continue reading "Bristol County Man, 24, Charged With Trafficking Oxycodone, Marijuana After Drugs And Cash Seized During Raid" »

Jenna Conrad of Framingham and her boyfriend Andrew Spaulding of Walpole were arrested Tuesday and charged with Distribution of Class C following a two week investigation. It is alleged that police made undercover buys on three occasions from Conrad with an arrest coming after the final purchase. According to reports Conrad was selling Diazepam and Clonazepam, both prescription drugs. When arrested the car in which both defendants were riding was searched and additional drugs were found. Conrad has been charged with three counts of Distribution of Class C. Spaulding has been charged with three counts of Conspiracy to Violate the Controlled Substances Act. The case is being prosecuted in the Framingham District Court.

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Two Arrested For Drug Dealing In Framingham

Distribution of Class C In Massachusetts

Distribution of Class C Substances in Massachusetts is a felony punishable by up to five years in state prison. In cases like this the prosecution will likely take place in the district court where the maximum exposure to the defendants after conviction is two and one half years. If the defendants do not have criminal records and they Hire an Experienced Massachusetts Drug Attorney the might be able to have their cases continued without a finding. There also might be some defenses to this case. Typically in cases involving hand to hand sales to undercover officers the only viable defense involves entrapment. Our office has won several cases using this defense, all of which are well documented.

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Prosecutors in Lynn, Massachusetts allege that early Monday morning during a snowstorm a man was taping up a window of his car. Three men pulled up in another vehicle, approached him at gunpoint and forced him into their car. The victim was held for a brief period of time during which the assailants took from him a cell phone. The victim was then released and the defendants drove off. The police later caught up to the defendants and upon initial inquiry observed the firearms in their vehicle. The defendants, Jose A. Sanchez of Danbury, Connecticut, Josue Marrero of Framingham and Jose M. Sanchez of the Bronx have been charged with Armed Robbery, Kidnapping, and Possession of a Firearm. The case is now pending in the Lynn District Court but will likely be prosecuted in the Essex County Superior Court in Salem.

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Robbery, Kidnapping, Gun Possession Charges Issue Against 3 In Lynn

Carrying and Possession of Firearms in Massachusetts

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 269 Section 10(a) makes carrying a firearm in Massachusetts a felony. The law states that anyone who knowingly has in his possession; or knowingly has under his control in a vehicle; a firearm, loaded or unloaded shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years, or for not less than 18 months nor more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction. Eighteen months of this sentence must be served.

Armed Robbery in Massachusetts

Armed Robbery is a life felony proscribed by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 17. To be convicted of this crime the prosecution must show that the defendant was armed and that he stole the property of another person. In this case it is alleged that the defendants used guns to rob the victim of his cell phone which, if proved beyond a reasonable doubt would satisfy the elements of the crime. If convicted a judge could sentence the defendants to life is state prison.

Continue reading "Three Arraigned In Lynn District Court On Charges Of Robbery, Kidnapping, Carrying A Firearm" »

On December 1, 2009 I blogged about Manson Brown, the Massachusetts man who escaped from prison after learning about his new Rape Indictment. Well, Brown was apprehended on January 3, 2010 in Georgia and last Friday the 51 year old Mattapan man was arraigned for the 1996 Rape and Home Invasion case that triggered his escape. Brown, who was also charged with being a Habitual Offender was held without bail in the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn. According to reports, in September of 1996 Brown broke into the victim's home through a window and raped her while she was sleeping next to her two year old son. Brown then allegedly stole money and jewelry from the victim's home and threatened to kill her family if she called the police. She subsequently went to the hospital. A recent DNA match identified Brown as the suspect.

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Massachusetts Prison Escapee Arraigned For Cambridge Rape

Rape in Massachusetts

As I have mentioned many times in the past Rape Cases in Massachusetts are very difficult to defend even when there is not physical evidence linking the defendant to the crime. Once that evidence does become available however the case becomes that much more difficult. Absent any relationship between the defendant and the victim that might be suggestive of consent the added component of a DNA match makes defending the case that much more difficult. People like Manson Brown need to find a Middlesex Superior Court Defense Lawyer with Experience Defending Rape Cases Involving DNA. These tests are fallible and to avoid the consequences of a Rape Conviction and a lengthy state prison sentence Brown is going to need a lawyer who can challenge the accuracy of this test.

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Lyn Toscano of Haverhill, Massachusetts is the assistant manager of the Registry of Motor Vehicles for the branch located in Haverhill. Earlier today Toscano was arraigned in the Haverhill District Court and charged with two counts of Soliciting a Bribe as a Public Employee, Conspiracy and Falsification of a Driver's License. It is alleged that the scheme in which she was involved started in September of 2008 and lasted until May of 2009. Authorities claim that Toscano was selling licenses to people who had not taken the driver's test. Police were tipped off by Richard Chase who ironically has been charged with Criminal Harassment of Toscano.

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Massachusetts Registry Worker Charged With Selling Driver's Licenses

Falsification of a Driver's License in Massachusetts

This crime is a felony in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 Section 24B. The case can be prosecuted in either the District Court or the Superior Court and it carries with it a possible five year state prison sentence. If Toscano decides to Hire an Experienced Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer who understands Motor Vehicle Crimes she might be able to walk away from these charges without a criminal record.

Soliciting a Bribe as a Public Employee

This crime is proscribed by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 268A Section 2 and is also a felony in Massachusetts. A conviction of this crime is punishable by up to three years in state prison. This charge can also be continued without a finding so it is advisable that Toscano get a good lawyer right away.

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Authorities allege that Marcelo Perez of Lawrence, Massachusetts was carrying a loaded .38 caliber firearm at the same time he made a delivery of over twenty eight grams of cocaine. Apparently an investigation was focused on a Dunkin Donuts parking lot on Main Street in Haverhill. It is unclear as to how the police knew or suspected Perez to be involved in drug dealing or what reason they had for apprehending him. He is being charged in the Haverhill District Court with Trafficking Cocaine Over 28 Grams, Possession of a Firearm, Possession of Ammunition and Possession of a Dangerous Weapon. This case will ultimately be prosecuted in the Essex County Superior Court in Salem. The street value of the cocaine is estimated at over six thousand dollars.

Read Article: Drug and Gun Charges for Lawrence Man Caught Trafficking In Haverhill As a Massachusetts Drug Case Defense Lawyer there are several things I would like to know about this case. What information did the police have that Perez was involved in drug trafficking. In order to legally stop and search him the police must have probable cause. That can be established in many ways yet this article does not even hint at the reasons the police targeted this man. I assume an informant provided certain information from which the police launched their investigation but that information must also meet a constitutional threshold before it justifies them stopping and searching Perez. I would also want to know whose car Perez was driving and who, if anyone he was meeting in the parking lot. As with most drug cases, I would expect to see a Motion to Suppress vigorously litigated in this case.

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On December 30, 2009 police on Cape Cod searched an apartment located at 6A Holly Street in Onset, Massachusetts. There they found prescription drugs, a large quantity of cocaine, an assault rifle, a handgun and ammunition. Both weapons were loaded. At the scene were Manuel Pina-Agee and Amanda Muller, both of Wareham. Both were arrested that night and charged with drug and gun violations. Not present was Theodore Lopes who has also been charged with these offenses. Police have been searching for Lopes since the home was searched. Lopes has been charged with Trafficking Cocaine and Gun Possession, both felonies in Massachusetts.

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Police Search For Cape Cod Resident Charged With Drug Trafficking, Gun Possession

When looking at this case any Plymouth County Massachusetts Drug Defense Lawyer who handles cases in Wareham would immediately want to know how is it that three people have been charged with these crimes. When a home is searched and more than one person is present there is always an issue as to who had ownership or possession of the illegal items. Simply being present where a crime is being committed is insufficient to sustain a conviction. In these cases motions to dismiss are usually filed and are often successful. Here is another thought. Why is Lopes being charged with these crimes? The article suggests that he was not present when the search took place. Had he been he would have been arrested. It is difficult and many times impossible for the district attorney to legally link someone to criminal activity when the person is not present, particularly in the case of drug matters and searches. This might very well be the type of case that Lopes can win.

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Around 10:00 p.m. Saturday night Lynn, Massachusetts police responded to a 911 call from a woman who reported having been beaten by her boyfriend with a broom stick. When the police arrived they found the fifty year old woman bleeding from the head. The woman told police that the boyfriend, Joseph McLaughlin accused her of taking money from the bar where he works and proceeded to hit her ten times with an aluminum broom stick. The woman declined medical attention. McLaughlin was located shortly thereafter and arrested. He has been charged with Domestic Assault and Battery and Assault and Battery by Means of a Dangerous Weapon. Bail has been set at two thousand five hundred dollars cash. The case is being prosecuted in the Lynn District Court.

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Lynn Man Faces Charges Of Domestic Violence After Attacking Girlfriend

From a prosecution perspective the strength of these cases depends on several factors. 1) Will the victim be cooperative throughout the course of the prosecution? Often times these relationships get resolved to the point where the victim refuses to cooperate thereby making the district attorney's job more difficult. 2) Is there any independent evidence that the prosecution can use if the victim becomes uncooperative such as an eyewitness or a contemporaneous 911 call from the victim? 3) What did the responding police officers observe? Bruising, bleeding or other signs that the victim has suffered an attack can be used by the prosecutor to corroborate the allegations of Domestic Assault.

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Diomedes Junior Lugo and his mother's boyfriend were fighting at their Leach Street home in Salem, Massachusetts on Wednesday. The concerned mother called the police who arrived shortly before 6:00 p.m. Neither the son nor the boyfriend were present initially. The police looked around and found the son, Lugo hiding in the basement. Lugo resisted their efforts to search him for weapons. Lugo started to cry and admitted to having cocaine in his pocket. It turns out the amount exceeded twenty eight grams. Lugo now stands charged with Trafficking Cocaine in Excess of 28 Grams, School Zone Violation, Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Resisting Arrest and Possession With Intent to Distribute Cocaine. Bail was set in the Salem District Court in the amount of ten thousand dollars. The case will be prosecuted in the Essex Superior Court.

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Salem Man, 20 Looking At 7 Year Mandatory For Cocaine Trafficking

Any Salem, Massachusetts Cocaine Trafficking Defense Lawyer can sense that something is terribly wrong with this story. If Lugo and and mother's boyfriend are fighting and the boyfriend left the home he obviously knew that she had called the police. If he knew then Lugo knew as well. Why then would Lugo place an ounce of cocaine in his pocket? No one would. It is stupid. There must be many places where the cocaine could have been hidden until after the police left the premises. The article went on to say that the police believed that there was evidence that Lugo was selling cocaine. If he was a cocaine dealer selling from his home there would be no need to keep the substance on his person particularly where the police were on their way to the house. Lugo's defense lawyer will most likely exploit these points.

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On December 31, 2009 Frank Garcia was pulled over by Billerica Police on what has been called a motor vehicle infraction. During the stop the officers became suspicious that Garcia might have been involved in selling drugs so they called for a couple of canine officers. Garcia was detained until the canine units arrived. The dogs apparently gave an indication that drugs were present and Garcia's car was searched. Inside the police found over four hundred grams of cocaine and twelve thousand dollars cash. Garcia was arrested and subsequently charged with Trafficking Cocaine in Excess of 200 Grams, Possessing and Uttering a False Driver's License and Giving a False Name to Police Officers. The case will be prosecuted in the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn.

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Billerica Police Make Cocaine Bust Resulting In Trafficking Charges

How does a "routine motor vehicle stop" result in a suspect being detained until drug sniffing dogs are brought to the scene? This article certainly does not answer that question. I assume that the false driver's license and providing a false name to police officers was not detected until after the search revealed the large quantity of cocaine. Otherwise, Garcia would have been arrested and charged with the Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Offenses, his car would have been inventoried and towed and he would have been released on a rather low bail. The prosecution is going have to establish the legality Garcia's detention or arrest and the search of the car because the Massachusetts Cocaine Trafficking Defense Lawyer defending Garcia will try to get the stop, detention, search and ultimate arrest dismissed through a Motion to Suppress.

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Oscoe Housen is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing in the Framingham District Court. The district attorney is alleging that Housen broke into a former girlfriend's home and stabbed her and a man who was present at the time. The man was stabbed in the back. The woman was stabbed in the chest and arm. Housen is being charged with Domestic Assault and Battery, Assault and Battery by Means of a Dangerous Weapon, Violation of a 209A Restraining Order and Home Invasion. The case will probably be indicted and prosecuted in the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn.

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Man Facing Domestic Violence Charges In Framingham District Court

The Home Invasion charge is the most significant in this case. The law in Massachusetts pertaining to Home Invasion states that anyone who is armed with a dangerous weapon and goes into someone else's home and uses that weapon shall be punished for a minimum of twenty years in state prison. There is a requirement that the defendant know that someone was home at the time he went into the property or that he had reason to believe that someone would be home. Massachusetts Criminal Lawyers know that there is now a legal dispute in Massachusetts as to whether or not a judge can place the person on probation rather than impose the minimum sentence of incarceration for twenty years. If the article is accurate and Housen is convicted of this crime I have little doubt that he would be sentence to the twenty year mandatory given the apparent seriousness of the injuries to the victims.

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Just before midnight this past Sunday night a Massachusetts State Police officer pulled Corey Oliver over after observing him swerving in and out of traffic and committing several other Motor Vehicle Crimes. During the stop the Trooper found twelve pounds of marijuana in an undisclosed location in the car. Oliver was arrested and charged in the Newburyport District Court with Possession With Intent to Distribute Marijuana and Possession of Marijuana. Oliver was arraigned and held on ten thousand dollars cash bail.

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Marijuana Charges Issue For Maine Man Caught With 12 Pounds In Car

Ten thousand dollars cash bail seems pretty high for a case of this nature. Sometimes bail for out of state residents is set higher than it is for in state residents. There is often a fear that absent some incentive out of state defendants might not return to Massachusetts to defend their cases. Assuming Oliver has no criminal record or a minor record I would think the bail will be reduced after a bail appeal in the Essex Superior Court in Salem. I would not be surprised if he already posted bail.

The case itself suggests a couple of defenses. Constitutional issues come into play any time there is a seizure of evidence. A Motion to Suppress either the stop or the search of the car or both will likely be filed. It would be interesting to learn the location in the car where the drugs were found. If not in plain view then suppression of the drugs might be viable. If the drugs were in plain view why did the police refuse to disclose that in court? Other factors to consider are 1) was anyone else in the car with Oliver; 2) who owned the car; 3) what factors suggest that Oliver had knowledge that the drugs were in the car; 4) why would anyone with a large quantity of drugs drive in the manner Oliver did if he had knowledge that drugs were in the car? Any good Massachusetts Drug Lawyer would love to defend this case.

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