New Ruling Could Change Future of Drug Criminals
For a decade now, Florida has been able to charge anyone with possession whether they were knowledgeable of the possession or not. This is a law which has been able to cause many to get arrested without knowing why.
The new change will call into question all of the different cases in which people have been arrested. The change cones as a result in the change of those who feel that the law is not fair to those who have no knowledge of what they have in their possession.
Now, unless the prosecution in hundreds of cases can prove that the people under arrest were carrying drugs with knowledge of what they had. Short of being able to prove this, they will have to let a lot of people go. This is a problem in which will create a hole in the legal system as well as release a lot of prisoners.
Many feel that the change was a long time coming as there was no reason for many of those arrested to ever be detained in the first place. This was recently challenged because of the cocaine arrest of Mackle Shelton.
The arrest happened in 2005 when it was alleged that Shelton was carrying cocaine. This was a problem in the case because they could not first prove that the substance was cocaine. Then, they could not prove that Shelton was aware that he was in possession of a controlled substance.
This helped to prove that there is a need to make sure that defendants have knowledge of what they are carrying. This is because they have to be arrested with the knowledge of a guilty mind. This was part of mens rea and creates a situation in which the previous law which needs to be addressed.
Aspen Resident Charged with Cocaine Drug Charge
The Drug Enforcement Agency is always looking for new ways in which it is able to stop drug smugglers and distributors form being able to distribute drugs throughout the country. This is something which is usually accomplished with the help of many departments working together to lead to arrests.
Recently the DEA was able to tighten its reigns on an Aspen cocaine ring that they have been tracking since 2010. One of the suspects was recently arrested in Florida for his part in the operation.
Montgomery Chitty was arrested on a charge to distribute and possess with internet to distribute cocaine. This is because of the over 5 kilograms of cocaine that he was carrying. The arrest happened recently and Chitty has already had his first appearance in front of a judge to discuss the charges and to make sure that he is aware of the charges he is facing.
If convicted of the crimes being brought against him, Chitty faces up to life in prison and a $10 million fine. The least that he will face with the current charges is 10 years in prison.
It is likely that the DEA is hoping that they will be able to get more information about the conspiracy in Aspen to distribute cocaine. This will help the DEA to have more arrests and to make sure that they will be able to stem the flow of cocaine which has been all too easy to flow out of Aspen. So far, there have been 10 defendants which have been named in the same ring of cocaine conspirators. This number is expected to grow with seven of the ten already making plea deals in order to get lighter sentencing. The lighter charges are the only way to get a lighter sentence with federal mandatory sentencing guidelines which must be followed by judges at sentencing.
Daughter of Israeli Politician Arrested with Drug Charge
Airport employees take drugs carried on a plane very seriously these days. They make sure to check all prescriptions carefully to not only make sure that what is supposed to be inside of the bottle is there. They also make sure that everything matches up to the person who is carrying the prescription.
If there is ever a case in which the information is not right, an arrest will occur. It is a serious offense which will land the violator in some serious trouble.
This is exactly what happened to Talya Ben-Eliezer, 38. The daughter of the former Israeli defense minister was issued a prescription for oxycodone in June and made a copy of the prescription at the time that she received it. She then used the copy to get a new prescription filled by the drug store.
She received the pills which would later get her arrested from a Seffner pharmacy. Using the copy was a violation of the law and caused her to be in trouble for a few different crimes.
Ben-Eliezer was arrested while she was traveling through to JFK airport. The information which led to arrest was stemming from the use of the copy of the prescription at the pharmacy. By issuing a warning, Tampa police were able to make sure that she was arrested for not only possessing the pills. She was arrested for attempting to carry them onto a flight.
Currently a member of the Israel legislature, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer is certainly being notified of her whereabouts. There is little he will be able to do to get her out of trouble. It is a very serious offense which will have to be tried in a court of law unless his daughter makes a plea deal before sentencing.
Marijuana Charge Result of Routine Traffic Stop
Traffic stops seem to be the way that many police are catching crooks for marijuana possession these days.
When David Seymour Lawrence, 22, was pulled over recently, the police officer said that he smelled the distinct odor of marijuana smoke whenever he approached the car. This prompted a further inspection of the vehicle and the possession that Lawrence was holding.
After searching the vehicle, the police officer was able to find items including a smoking pipe, a marijuana grinder and enough marijuana to be charged with possession with intent to distribute.
Lawrence was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession with intent to sell and illegal possession of marijuana. The traffic stop was just the start of the trouble for Lawrence because he additionally received the ticket for an improper turn and an inoperative brake light.
Lawrence has since posted the $500 bond and has been released from custody until his first appearance which is set to take place on February, 13 in Superior Court.
His case is only one of many which have been seen recently in which drug charges have followed routine traffic stops in the area. The possession of marijuana does not appear to be on the rise. It only appears that the intuition of the police to check vehicles which are under suspicion allow the police officers to apprehend more criminals with substances that they are not allowed to have.
It appears that with these kinds of arrests on the rise that we will see more of these in the future. There may be more cases which will end up in front of the courts which have started out with something as innocent as a busted tail light. Let this be a warning to all those peddling their wares from motor vehicles.
Cocaine Charges Brought After I-75 Traffic Stop
Large amount of cocaine was found during a routine traffic stop by Lee County police.
At about 2P.M. on Wednesday, Lee detectives discovered a Cadillac which was speeding down I-75 in the northbound lanes. The car immediately slowed to 55 after realizing that there was a law enforcement office in close proximity. Eight lane changes were made in addition to slowing down which seemed like suspicious behavior to the detectives. This became enough to make the detectives feel that they needed to pull the car over.
During the traffic stop, Ricardo Caceres Borges, 36, from Miami become very nervous. Even after being told that he was going to receive a warning, he went on to tell detectives that he was a devout Christian that was on his way to teach at a religious retreat. He seemed eager to get the detectives to let him drive on so that he could get to his appointment.
Once detectives ran his information in the computer, they discovered that Borges actually has a history with drug crimes including charges for criminal trafficking of narcotics, economic crimes and federal level fraud. It was enough to call out a K-9 unit.
The police dog was able to provide an alert near the trunk of the car. Borges was extremely nervous and the reports indicate that he repeatedly was saying “pretty dog, pretty dog, pretty dog, what a pretty dog.”
Inside of the trunk of the car, police discovered a purple Crown Royal bag which contained 558.6 grams of cocaine. This was stored in the jack compartment of the trunk to avoid being found by police. Borges was arrest with charges of cocaine trafficking and keeping a vehicle for dangerous drugs. He has not yet had a court date set for his trial.
Cocaine Drug Smuggling Operation Sentenced in Federal Court
This week, four individuals charged in a drug smuggling operation from Columbia to Tampa were charges in federal court. The last of the defendants, Elias Estupinan Rengifo, 48 – Columbia, South America, was sentenced with 135 months in federal prison for his part in a major drug smuggling operation which was seized with over 1,000 kilograms in cocaine at the time of the bust.
For his part, Rengifo was charges with conspiring with others with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine on board vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. He pled guilty to his charges on October 12, 2011.
Along with Rengifo, three other conspirators were named in the trial and have previously been sentenced. All three were arrested by police in Columbia, South America and extradited to the United States to face sentencing. They are all three being sentenced under the same charges, though previous charges play a factor in the length of their sentence. All parties involved pled guilty to the crimes which were brought against them.
Horacio Aguirre Perea, 42, was given the harshest sentence with 235 months in federal prison. He was arrested on August5, 2009. He pled guilty on October 27, 2010, On January 28, 2011, he was sentenced to prison.
Vicente Aguirre Perea, 45, was sentenced to a lesser amount of 135 months in federal prison when he was sentenced in June 17, 2011. He was arrested on August 6, 2009 and pled guilty on January 26, 2011.
Wilson Vallejo, 41, was also sentenced to 135 months in federal prison. He was arrested on March 16, 2010 and pled guilty on March 29, 2011. His sentencing date was June 17, 2011.
All four parties were caught as a part of a bust which happened in open waters falling within the jurisdiction of the United States.
Traffic Stop Leads to Drug Charge
Tuesday night, Ocala officer, Sgt. Erica Hay, stopped a white Mercury for running a red light. What was thought to be a routine traffic stop quickly turned into a drug charge. Hay believed after talking to the driver, Carl Bostick, that a K-9 was needed to inspect the vehicle. She called in the request and another car was immediately dispatched to the scene.
Upon arriving at the location of 16th Place and Southwest 27th Avenue, the K-9 officer had his dog walk around the vehicle. While doing so, the dog made an alert which indicated that there were drugs present in the vehicle. This caused Bostick to be placed into a squad car as the search of the vehicle was taking place. Permission was not needed to search the vehicle because probable cause had been established through the use of the K-9 unit and the fact that Bostick was pulled over for a traffic violation in the first place.
Upon further inspection of the vehicle, it was discovered that there were small baggies filled with marijuana inside of the driver’s side floorboard. Another load of marijuana was recovered from a blue Looney Tunes duffel bag which was stored in the rear passenger floorboard. All marijuana was taken by the police and was weighed out to total 391 grams. This was enough to put Bostick under arrest and take him into custody.
Bostick was charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. He was also charged with possession of MDMA. He was processed at Marion County Jail. Bail was posted at $10,000 and Bostick was able to bail out. No date yet has been set for his first appearance in court so that he can answer the charges which are being brought against him.
Man Shot during Drug Deal Gone Bad
Tampa resident, Devyn Hardy, 19, was shot in the face on Saturday in what is believed to have been a drug related incident. Hardy is expected to survive the wounds, but was sent to the emergency room after two people entered his home in the Lofts Apartments on 4050 Rocky Circle.
The incident is known to occur whenever drugs are involved. These kinds of cases emerge when there are disputes over money, quality of drugs or other related incidents. Those who are the victims might be the person buying the substance or those who are selling it.
The attackers were caught on a video because of a surveillance camera which was posted outside of the home. In the video, released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the two men could be seen entering into the apartment. After a period of time in which it is believed that Hardy was shot, the two ran from the scene. Some time later, Hardy was seen emerging from his apartment and staggering towards the front door to try and get help.
The video was released with the anticipation that someone will be able to identify one or both of the attackers. Anyone who has any information leading to the arrest or capture of these two individuals is encouraged to report it as soon as possible as a possible reward can be offered to those with useful information.
Hardy was rushed to Tampa General Hospital and has been listed in stable condition. Even after suffering from a gunshot wound to the face, he is expected to pull through. Nothing was mentioned in the report about what will happen to Hardy or if there are any charges expected other than those which will be brought against the two attackers.
Gang Member Sentenced in Drug Case
The war against methamphetamines has had another victory here recently with the sentencing of James Jason Riani, 32, of Spring Hill. The young man was a member of the Gangster Disciple street gang and he was arrested with a list of different charges including possession, intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm during drug trafficking. He was sentenced to 24 years and seven months in federal prison for his crimes.
U.S. Attorneys state that after completion of this sentence, Riani will serve another five years in prison for battery against a fellow inmate. Since the event occurred in state prison, Riani will have to report there for completion of his sentence after he has satisfied the sentence which he is responsible in the federal system. While it is possible for Riani to cut his sentence with good time as regulated by the bureau of prisons, he will still serve at least 20 years in prison before being able to move on to state prison.
Pleading guilty to charges allowed Riani to avoid the 18 counts, which he was facing upon his arrest. Charges of carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon grand theft and drug trafficking were among the charges which were originally charged against Riani. His arrest was in September 2010. He was held in the state prison system until his court date with the federal courts. He will be remanded to the federal system until he has completed his sentence with them at which time he will be allowed to complete the rest of his sentence with the state system. Riani has been ordered by the federal court to turn over all firearms and ammunition to the Federal Marshals before he is to start his sentence in the federal system.
Drug Charges Levied on Tampa Man
Just after 10 p.m. on Saturday night, Jorge Morejon-Guzman was arrested in his Town ‘N County home. The arrest occurred when Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant. What they discovered was a home with more than 48 marijuana plants inside. Morejon-Guzman was detained while the officers searched the home for anything else. They found more of what they expected to find in a home which was suspected with being a drug dwelling. Morejon-Guzman was charged on the spot with maintaining a drug dwelling and taken into custody as the search continued.
In addition to the marijuana, officers discovered that Morejon-Guzman was not paying for all of the electricity that he was using. Lights and a temporary air conditioning unit were being powered by electricity which was being stolen. All told, the claim of $6,000 in stolen electricity was added to the charges he is facing.
When officers entered the home, they found a bedroom 48 marijuana plants inside. These were in addition to the several plants which were being dried in the room outside where the temporary air conditioning unit was set up. The report indicates that several plants were hanging upside down from the ceiling in front of the unit to dry.
Morejon-Guzman, 50, was arrested and charged with a felony charge of manufacturing cannabis. He is charged with felony grand theft electricity for his use of over $6,000 of electricity that he did not pay for. A felony count of trafficking cannabis was also added to the list of charges along with a misdemeanor charge of maintaining a drug dwelling.
The total bail for three of the four charges was $4,500. It is unlikely that Morejon-Guzman will get out any time soon as there was no bond set on the trafficking charge.
