Law enforcement officials received information that Halison Hernandez of Lynn, Massachusetts was selling cocaine as part of a large scale operation. Accordingly they started an investigation. During the course of their efforts local police agencies were able to infiltrate the organization with an undercover officer who made several purchases of large quantities of cocaine from Hernandez. The investigation lasted several months. Just two days ago the work of the police culminated in a controlled buy. An undercover office paid Hernandez sixty two thousand dollars for two kilograms of cocaine. Hernandez was arrested as were Joel Gonzalez of Lynn, Massachusetts and Ryan Fulti of Salem, Massachusetts. Gonzalez and Fulti were in a separate car that was used to deliver the drugs for Hernandez. All men have been charged with Trafficking Cocaine Over 200 Grams. The case will be prosecuted in the Essex County Superior Court.
Read Article: Massachusetts Men From Essex County Charged With Cocaine Trafficking
Trafficking Cocaine in Massachusetts in an amount that exceeds two hundred grams carries the most severe punishment. Assuming there is no school zone violation the defendants face a minimum mandatory fifteen year state prison sentence. Hand to hand sales to undercover police officers are very difficult to defend. Usually the only defense to one of these cases involves entrapment. As I have mentioned in prior blog posts, entrapment occurs when the idea to commit certain crimes is provided by law enforcement or one of its agents and the target or defendant is not predisposed to commit the crime. There must be a showing of an effort on the part of the police to overcome the will of the defendant and essentially make him commit the crime or leave him with the understanding that he has no choice but to commit the criminal act.
Attorney Stephen Neyman has won several cases using an entrapment defense. These results are published on our Drug Crimes page and on our Case Resuts pages. Our office has successfully defended people accused of committing Drug Crimes in Massachusetts and throughout the country for over twenty years. If you have been charged with one of these crimes call us at 617-263-6800 or contact us online.