After a two month investigation law enforcement officials in Norfolk County Massachusetts seized 340 pounds of marijuana at homes in Quincy and Canton. In all three men were arrested and charged with trafficking marijuana. The men have been identified as Tuan Ngoc Pham of Quincy; Jeffrey Falcone of Boston; and Alexandros Kostopoulos of Abington. In addition to the drugs authorities seized $355,000 in cash. The street value of the drugs are estimated at more than $1,000,000. Bail was set on all men at the arraignment.
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Certain thoughts come to mind when reading this article. It is highly likely that the searches of the homes were conducted pursuant to search warrants. This typically implicates confidential informants or controlled buys or both. The validity of the search warrant might be challenged. If successful the fruits of the search, in this case the drugs get suppressed meaning that they cannot be introduced in court. Often times this terminates the prosecution. If the search is found to be lawful there are other defenses that might apply to one or more of the defendants. These are predicated on what the investigation disclosed prior to the search, what happened at the time of the search and whether or not the defendants spoke to the authorities after they were arrested.
If convicted, the defendants in this case face a minimum mandatory 3 year state prison sentence.
Stephen Neyman is a Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer who has successfully defended people charged with drug trafficking in Quincy, Norfolk County and other parts of Massachusetts. If you have been charged with a drug crime or any criminal matter call us at 617-263-6800 or contact us online.