Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

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" »

Ryan Caverly is thirty one years old. He currently lives in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. He and twenty five year old Vincent Migliore of Everett were arrested on Monday. Both were charged with Trafficking Oxycodone Over 14 Grams, Trafficking Oxycodone Over 28 Grams and Conspiracy to Violate the Massachusetts Drug Laws. Adriana D'Alleva was also arrested on drug charges and charged with Trafficking Oxycontins. The district attorney is alleging that the defendants sold eight hundred oxycodone pills and one hundred ecstasy pills over the past few months to undercover police officers. Caverly is being held on five hundred thousand dollars cash bail, Migliore on two hundred fifty thousand dollars and D'Alleva on ten thousand dollars. It appears that the investigation might have started when Migliore was found in possession of eighty five thousand dollars at an Amtrak station in Chicago. During Caverly's arrest police found thirty two thousand dollars cash, some drugs and drug paraphernalia. Migliore was found in possession of three hundred ninety nine oxycodone tablets at the time of his arrest. Right now the cases are pendint in the Peabody District Court however it is expected that the prosecution will take place in the Essex County Superior Court in Salem.

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Three From Massachusetts Charged With Trafficking Oxycontins

The facts of this article suggest that at least in Caverly and Migliore's cases a Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer will be looking closely at Search and Seizure issues. What prompted the investigation in the first place? Was it the seizure from Migliore in Chicago and if so, why did law enforcement seek him out? Was this a coincidental stop or did they have information suggesting that he was involved in illicit drug trafficking activity? The next question is how did that lead them to Caverly? Was he an active conspirator? And what is D'Alleva's role in all of this? If the police investigation was questionable at any level motions to suppress will be filed. If successful these can result is exclusion of drug evidence at trial and possibly a dismissal of the case. It also seems strange that this case is being prosecuted in state court rather than in Federal Court particularly given what appears to be an active role of federal law enforcement in this investigation. Cases that have weaknesses from the prosecution's viewpoint are rarely prosecuted in the Federal Courts. Perhaps this is good news for Caverly, Migliore and D'Alleva.

Continue reading "Two Massachusetts Men Charged With Trafficking Oxycontins In Peabody Court" »

Dimitrios Paicopoulos is twenty seven years old. He is from Newton, Massachusetts. Just last week Mr. Paicopoulos found himself in some trouble. A narcotics task force arrested him at his home. They conducted a search of his home, presumably pursuant to a search warrant. They found over ten thousand dollars cash, some narcotics packaging materials and over seven hundred eighty milligram Oxycontin pills. According to reports this investigation started after numerous neighbors complained about what they believed to be drug activity in their neighborhood. Bail for Mr. Paicopoulos has been set at one hundred thousand dollars in the Newton District Court. The defendant now faces drug trafficking charges.

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Oxycontin Bust Results In Seizure Of over 700 Pills, Trafficking Charges For Massachusetts Man

So what actually happened here? Well, if neighbors truly complained about the suspected drug activity in their neighborhood the law enforcement investigation that commenced likely did so with a surveillance of the home. Police officers might have observed unusual traffic into the property such as a vast array of frequent visitors entering and leaving the premises after very short visits. The police probably stopped one of the visitors and located drugs on that person. That person then told the police that he or she had just purchased certain drugs from the defendant. The police would then learn how the defendant would be contacted for such drug activity. They would next enlist an undercover officer, one of the purchasers who they had just stopped or a confidential informant to get a better perspective on the quantity of drugs that Paicopoulos could supply. Once controlled buys proved successful a warrant was obtained for the arrest of the defendant and a search of his home.

There are many possible defenses to this crime such as attacking the legality of the search warrant or putting the district attorney to the constitutional task of proving that the drugs seized belonged to the defendant and not someone else who resided in the home. Cases like this are often won with challenges to the constitutionality of the search through motions to suppress. A motion to dismiss based on an Insufficiency of the evidence can be a method of attacking as well.

Continue reading "Bail Set At $100,000 For Newton Massachusetts Man Accused Of Trafficking Oxycontins" »

On January 26, 2009 Victor Oliveira's home in Saugus, Massachusetts was raided. The police found 139 OxyContin pills, each 80 milligrams some other drugs and over eight thousand dollars cash. According to reports Oliveira told police that he was selling the OxyContin pills. After initially bringing this case in the Lynn District Court the case was indicted by the Essex County District Attorney's Office. All charges against Oliveira are pending in the Essex County Superior Court in Salem, Massachusetts. Oliveira has been charged with trafficking over twenty eight grams of a Class A substance.

Essex County District Attorney Indicts Massachusetts Men For Drug Trafficking

From the looks of things it seems like the strength of any defense lies in the defendant's ability to attack the constitutionality of the search warrant. In order to obtain a search warrant the police must establish probable cause for a magistrate or judge to conclude that a particular object or place is being used to conduct criminal activity. The person who requests the search warrant must provide an affidavit that establishes facts that support the need for a search warrant. The affidavit must pass federal and state constitutional scrutiny. Typically the Massachusetts courts make the search warrant requirements more difficult to sustain than do the federal courts. Oliveira will likely file a motion to suppress. If successful there is always a good chance that his case will be dismissed.

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MIT Police Officer Joseph D'Amelio was arrested Saturday night on charges of trafficking oxycontins.  Yesterday he was arraigned in the East Boston District Court and held on five hundred thousand dollars cash bail.  His cousin and co-defendant Anthony Cristallo was arrested and charged with these drug crimes as well.  According to reports a local Federal Express office opened a package sent from Florida believed to contain drugs.  Once the drugs were located Massachusetts State Police were notified.  An undercover trooper posing as a Federal Express employee then delivered the package to its intended location where it was signed for by an individual named Smoot.  Smoot called D'Amelio who arrived and checked the pills.  He in turn called Cristallo who showed up with sixteen thousand dollars he paid to Smoot for the pills.  All three were arrested. 

Read Article:  Cop Charged With Trafficking Oxycontins

Press Release:  High Bail Set For 2 Caught Trafficking

Drug Trafficking in Massachusetts is the possession with the intent to distribute an illegal substance or the actual distribution of the drug at a threshold quantity.  All trafficking offenses in Massachusetts carry in minimum sentence.  The threshold for trafficking class A and class B substances is fourteen grams.  There are many defenses to the charge of trafficking in Massachusetts.  Affirmative defenses depend on the circumstances of the case.  Often times district attorney's offices in Massachusetts enter into plea bargains wherein case dispositions can be negotiated to something below the established mandatory sentence. 

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A pharmacist at a Framingham drug store noticed that two bottles of oxycontins, each containing one hundred pills was missing from the store.  He called the Framingham Police.  It turns out that Igor Minevich, a 23 year old pharmacy technician who had been working at the store for less than three weeks had taken the drugs.  He turned himself in to the police station and admitted to taking the pills.  Minevich also told the police that all of the pills were gone and that he had given them all to friends.  The defendant was charged with trafficking oxycontins and possession with the intent to distribute oxycontins.  The case is pending in the Framingham District Court.  Minevich was released on personal recognizance. 

Read Article:  Pharmacy Technician Who Stole Oxycontins Charged With Trafficking

Oxycontin is a class B substance substance in Massachusetts.  Trafficking class B substances is a felony pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 94C Section 32E.  A conviction carries a minimum mandatory sentence that varies depending on the weight of the substance that was trafficked.  Trafficking in Massachusetts is simply the possession with the intent to distribute or actual distribution of a controlled substance that exceeds a threshold weight.  In this case the defendant admitted to distributing the substance.  If it is determined that he distributed a quantity that meets the trafficking minimum he will have a tough fight ahead of him.  If however the evidence shows that much of this substance was for personal use and the quantity distributed was minimal the defendant might have a legitimate defense to the trafficking charge.  The article suggests that Minevich was using this substance.  This is corroborated by the statement of the pharmacist who reported the theft of the oxycontins to the police. 

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