Articles Posted in Theft Crimes

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Trevor Brooks and another Hamilton, Massachusetts man along with Camilla Lambert of Manchester will likely be charged in the Ipswich District Court, (now merged with the Newburyport District Court) with breaking and entering with the intent to commit a misdemeanor and attempting to start a fire. According to reports a security guard at Gordon College found the three in the music center on the campus. None of the three are enrolled in the school and when asked what they were doing on the property they made some untrue statements. Apparently and for some inexplicably reason the group lit and eraser on fire. The three denied breaking into the property instead claiming that they gained entry through an unlocked door. One of the three defendants later went to the Wenham Police Station to make a statement about his involvement in the matter.

Two From Hamilton Massachusetts And Another From Manchester Charged With Breaking And Entering, Related Crimes

While there is obviously much missing from this article there stands a very good chance that this case will remain in the district court. The crime of Breaking and Entering With the Intent to Commit a Misdemeanor is a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266 Section 16A. A conviction for that offense carries a maximum six month house of correction sentence. Attempting to start a fire is prohibited by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266 Section 5A. This crime is a felony and is punishable by up to state prison. If the defendants do not have criminal records there is a chance that this case will be resolved by a continuance without a finding. That type of disposition in Massachusetts provides a break for the defendant. Here is how that works. The judge will agree to continue the case for a specified period of time. During that time period if the defendant stays out of criminal legal trouble the case will ultimately be dismissed. I would imagine that something along these lines with certain conditions such as community service or restitution is a way in which this case might be finalized.

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Melvin Cumba was at a Shaw’s Supermarket last Thursday accompanied by Shannon Widener. At approximately 5:30 that evening a Shaw’s employee saw Cumba shooting heroin in the woman’s bathroom. Apparently Cumba had been given warnings by authorities to leave the store. He refused, argued with the police and was charged with possession of heroin, second offense, disorderly person and trespassing. Bail was set at one thousand dollars cash. Widener was arrested for an outstanding warrant out of Brockton.

Drug Charges For Man Using Heroin In Food Store

Possession of heroin in Massachusetts is a crime in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 94C Section 34, The law states that anyone who is found in possession of heroin, a Class A substance, and is convicted of that crime can be punished by up to two years in the house of correction. For a second offense the punishment is up to five years in state prison. The latter version of the crime is a felony. This case will likely be prosecuted in the Stoughton District Court. Cumba’s biggest challenge will be convincing a judge to give him a sentence that does not require him to serve jail time.

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Today Rylan Coulstring was arraigned in the Hingham District Court. The charges brought by the prosecutor are breaking and entering, disturbing the peace and trespassing. At 12:30 a.m. yesterday a man checking on his boat in a local shipyard heard a noise coming from another boat. The man then saw the defendant with a ladder climbing to get into the boat. He called the police. The police arrived and Coulstring initially refused to leave. He ultimately surrendered.

Weymouth, Massachusetts Man Charged With B & E

The crime of Breaking and Entering in Massachusetts is a felony if committed in the nighttime. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266 Section 16 states that anyone who breaks into a building, vessel, ship or vehicle with the intent to commit a felony shall be punished. The crime itself is a felony and there is a maximum twenty year sentence that can be imposed if convicted of this crime in the superior court. This crime can also be prosecuted in the district court where the maximum sentence that can be imposed is 2 1/2 years in the house of correction. In cases such as this the primary question that arises is what was the defendant’s intent. Was he looking to commit a felony or did he intent to do something else? This factual distinction serves as the primary basis for defending these cases. It poses great difficulty for prosecutors. For this reason cases such as this are often resolved by way of plea bargain.

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Shortly after 2:00 p.m. yesterday a woman walking down a Boston, Massachusetts street was confronted by a man and a woman who asked for a cigarette. The two, later identified as Marie O’Neill and Thomas Slavin then began punching the woman repeatedly. The man then brandished a baseball bat and threatened to hit her with it. While doing so the couple took her pocketbook and fled. The victim chased the assailants and eventually caught up to O’Neill. Slavin took off in a black pick-up truck. A witness captured the license plates with a cell phone camera and police apprehended Slavin shortly thereafter. Inside the pick-up truck the police found the woman’s pocketbook, crack cocaine and marijuana. Both have been charged with armed robbery and possession of cocaine and marijuana.

Massachusetts Man And Woman Arrested, Charged With Robbery, Drug Possession

The most serious charge here is armed robbery. This is a felony in Massachusetts. It is punishable by up to life in prison. This crime is prosecuted in the Superior Court. The Massachusetts statute prohibiting armed robbery is Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 17. Oftentimes armed robbery cases are reduced to larceny from the person and are prosecuted in the district court. The decision to reduce such charges rests exclusively with the district attorney and depends on the circumstances of the act and the defendant’s criminal record.

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David Dunbar is a level three sex offender according to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board. He was convicted in 2000 of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen. He has recently been living in a homeless shelter in Quincy. Just the other day however Dunbar removed the screen on a woman’s apartment entered the apartment and purportedly committed some additional serious crimes. He is now facing charges in the Quincy District Court for assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, malicious destruction to property and home invasion. He is being held on $350,000 bail.

Read Article, Boston Herald, April 7, 2009

The home invasion charge is the most serious crime that Dunbar is accused of committing. It is a violent crime proscribed by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 18C. To be convicted of this crime the district attorney must prove that the defendant broke into someone’s home, knowing or having reason to know that they were home, while armed with a dangerous weapon and having used force or threats on the home’s occupant. A conviction of home invasion carries a twenty year minimum state prison sentence. The article stated that Dunbar was carrying a box cutter when he entered the home. That is sufficient to satisfy the element of “dangerous weapon”.

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Andrew Yuen was working the counter at Holbrook Liquors Friday night when a man came who in wearing a ski mask started demanding lottery tickets. Yuen raised his hands in submission and invited the man behind the counter to take the money from the register. Yuen then seized an opportunity to push the gun away and with the help of another store employee subdued the man and called the police. Police officers arrived and arrested Richard Hall of Holbrook. Hall was a regular at the store and had been there four hours earlier that evening. Authorities charged Hall with armed robbery while masked, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, armed assault with the intent to rob and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Bail was set at five thousand dollars cash in the Quincy District Court.

Read Article: Liquor store employees subdue robber

The crime of armed robbery in Massachusetts is governed by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 17. A conviction of armed robbery carries a potential life sentence. If however the person who committed the crime was masked there is a minimum five year state prison sentence that must be imposed.

Defending this case will be a difficult undertaking. The report makes clear that in addition to the two store employees there were two girls at the counter whom Yuen was assisting when Hall entered the store. If their version of the events supports that of the store employees Hall’s chance of success after trial is minimal at best. Look for him to enter into some sort of plea bargain where he might be able to get around the five year minimum sentence he now faces.

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Amesbury, Massachusetts police had their work cut out for them early Saturday morning when they stopped a 2002 Pontiac sedan operating erratically on Route 110. When Officer David Noyes activated his lights the car’s four occupants started behaving strangely. When he contacted the driver he noticed the smell of alcohol coming from inside the vehicle. Noyes quickly learned that the driver had a warrant out of the Newburyport District Court for an OUI conviction and that he was operating on a revoked driver’s license. The passengers had become unruly and Noyes called for assistance. The responding officers patted down the passengers and conducted a search of the car. During the search the police located a loaded semi-automatic firearm. A small bag of cocaine was found on one of the passengers and two additional bags were located in the car. All four had criminal records including cocaine distribution, larceny of a motor vehicle, robbery and possession of a dangerous weapon. Three of the subjects had pending criminal cases in other courts.

As a result of this incident several charges were filed in the Newburyport District Court including carrying a firearm, possession of ammunition, possession of cocaine, OUI second offense, driving with a revoked license, open container violation and minor in possession of alcohol. Bail for each was set at $25,000 pending arraignment.

Read Article: Boston Men Charged With Drug, Gun Violations, OUI Second After Routine Traffic Stop

Of all the charges these guys are facing the most serious is the gun possession charge. In Massachusetts possession of a firearm is proscribed by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter Section 10. The law states that anyone who carries a firearm without being properly licensed to do so is guilty of a felony. There is a mandatory minimum eighteen month sentence that you must serve if you are convicted of this crime. The firearm charges in this case might be very difficult for the prosecution to prove. All four defendants are charged with possessing the gun. This is because the police were unable to determine who actually possessed the weapon. While there can be a joint venture theory used by the prosecution to attribute possession to all defendants the likelihood of getting convictions of this basis is slim.

Recently in Essex County the district attorney’s office has been fingerprinting firearms in cases such as this. If the prints match up to one of the occupants in the car a conviction against that person becomes more likely. Essex County has a gun court now held in Peabody. This might be where this case is ultimately prosecuted.

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From December 2007 through May 2008 several banks were robbed in the towns of Natick, Newton, Watertown, Quincy, Belmont, Boston and Arlington.  Each time the robber wore a disguise and passed a note demanding 50’s and 100’s.  In that six month period the robber stole more than $48,000.00.  Law enforcement got a break in these cases when they received an anonymous note that Christopher Politis might be their man.  Following up on the tip the FBI placed a GPS device on Politis’ car.  That led them to a bank robbery at the Village Bank in Newton.  Politis’ accomplice during the last bank robbery was Donald Gillis who was also charged and convicted.  Both men pleaded guilty in federal court and face up to twenty years in federal prison.  In total, Politis pleaded guilty for his role in fourteen bank robberies. 

Read Article:  Two Plead Guilty To Bank Robbery In Boston Federal Court

Politis was most likely charged with violating 18 United States Code Section 2113(a).  This law states that anyone who forcibly or violently or by intimidation steals from a bank, credit union or any savings and loan faces up to 20 years in federal prison, or a fine or both.  Going into banks disguised and making demands for money satisfies the elements of this offense.  As with most cases in federal court the facts in this case were overwhelmingly favorable to the prosecution.  In cases such as this plea bargaining is the best way to minimize the defendants’ sentence, particularly where the Federal Sentencing Guidelines assign credit to anyone who accepts responsibility for his actions. 

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Eighteen year old Joshua Rodriguez from Marblehead was arraigned in the Lynn District Court on charges that he raped three girls under the age of sixteen all within a six week period.  According to reports, a 14 year old and a 15 year old complained that they were raped in December while another girl, also 14 told authorities that she was raped on February 4, 2009.  At the arraignment the district attorney told the judge that on December 3, 2008 Rodriguez forced one of the victims into a bathroom and forcibly raped her.  Another victim was raped in a car and threatened by the defendant afterwards.  The third victim reportedly smoked marijuana with Rodriguez, passed out and awakened to the defendant on top of her fondling her genitals.  Rodriguez is no stranger to the legal system.  He has a prior breaking and entering charge, motor vehicle offenses and drug charges.  Bail was set in the amount of $25,000.00. 

Read Article:  Rape Charges Pending Against Marblehead Teenager In Lynn

Typically when you hear about rape cases involving 18 year old males and 14 or 15 year old girls the charge will be rape of a child without force, commonly referred to as statutory rape.  Not so in this case.  These are forcible rape charges.  While the potential sentence for both is the same, people convicted of forcible rape typically receive stiff state prison sentences.  Rape of a child in Massachusetts is a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 22A or Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 23.  The former is rape with force, the latter is statutory rape. 

From reading the article it seems like Rodriguez has a tough road ahead of him.  Prosecutors in Massachusetts try to join cases like this for one trial to show motive or pattern.  If judges permit the joinder defending these cases is extremely difficult.  It is one thing to attack one victim through cross-examination or show inconsistencies in her story.  It is another thing to try to do this to three people, all of whom claim to have been raped in separate incidents, on different dates and at separate locations.  Cases like this usually get resolved through plea bargaining. 

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According to the Somerville Journal, Last week Vincent Primo and his girlfriend, Kim Szathmary, both of Medford were indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury for robbery and attempted robbery in Cambridge and Somerville.  In November and December of 2008 there were 7 incidents of attempted robbery and robbery in the Somerville and Cambridge area.  The crimes were similar in that a male would take women’s handbags from them forcible, and on one occasion a victim was stabbed.  The crimes occurred near public transportation stations.  Surveillance cameras captured Szathmary using the victim’s credit cards.  Primo was identified through photographic arrays.  Both defendants were indicted on four counts of robbery, armed and unarmed, two counts of armed assault with the intent to rob, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, armed assault with intent to murder and credit card fraud.  Somerville District Court Judge Maurice Flynn set bail in the amount of $500 for Szathmary and he held Primo without bail. 

Read Article: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x84117951/Medford-couple-arrested-for-stabbings-robberies-in-Somerville-Cambridge

Perhaps the most serious crime with which the couple have been charged is armed robbery.  Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265 Section 17 states that anyone who is armed with a dangerous weapon uses the weapon to effectuate a theft from the victim is guilty of armed robbery.  The maximum sentence for armed robbery is life in prison.  Unarmed robbery in Massachusetts has the same elements as armed robbery with the exception that there is no dangerous weapon involved.  Unarmed robbery also carries a life sentence.  It looks like lawyers for the defendants in this case have a tough fight ahead of them. 

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