Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
Can you imagine being only twenty three years old, being held in a jail on seventy five thousand dollars and facing a minimum mandatory fifteen year state prison sentence. That is exactly the predicament Roger Jones of Manchester, New Hampshire is in right now. According to an article in today’s Lynn Item, Jones was arrested for Trafficking OxyCodone. The estimated value of the drugs seized is about sixty thousand dollars. Apparently, in January a post office official became suspicious of a package addressed to someone in Lynn, Massachusetts. Law enforcement got involved. They opened the package and found about two thousand OxyCodone pills in a cotton candy machine. The package was subsequently delivered to the Lynn address. The recipient worked with police and contacted the person who was ultimately to receive the drugs. This was Chrystalina Cruz of Salem, Massachusetts. Cruz and Jones went to the Lynn address to accept the package. Both were arrested. Cruz was released on ten thousand dollars cash bail.
Read Article:
Essex County OxyContin Trafficking Defense Attorney
One of the things this article fails to address is why it took months to get Jones into court for his arraignment. It appears that the police arrested him in January, near the time that the postal inspector first became suspicious of the package. Why then wait until now to get Jones arraigned. Moreover, it strikes me that the bail is somewhat high right now. The article makes no mention of a prior criminal history, or Jones being a danger to the community or the risk that Jones will flee the jurisdiction in an attempt to evade prosecution.
Substantively I have several questions about the viability of this prosecution. What information did the police have regarding Jones at the time of the arrest? Did they simply see him appear with Cruz or did they have conversations with him suggesting that he was arriving to get the drugs? Was the woman in Lynn able to provide incriminating information pertaining to Jones or only about Cruz? Did Jones take possession of the drugs prior to his arrest or was he arrested at the time he got to the home in Lynn? A Massachusetts OxyCodone Trafficking Defense Lawyer would need the answers to these questions in preparing to defend Cruz. Keep in mind, absent any affirmative evidence that Jones intended to possess OxyCodone with the intent to distribute the drugs there is no viable trafficking case against him. Similarly, absent an agreement between Jones, Cruz and or the woman at the home in Lynn any Conspiracy indictment against Jones would be weak. Cruz too may have defenses to this case. It is clears that the unnamed woman in Lynn was involved with the trafficking operation. When pressed, she blamed Cruz and said in so many words that Cruz made her do it. She called Cruz to come over to her home. However absent some evidence that Cruz went over there to access the drugs or evidence showing that Cruz even knew that drugs had been sent there it might be difficult to successfully prosecute her.
Anyone who gets charged with a crime needs a lawyer. Our office is always prepared to head into court to start defending the accused. No matter what time of day one of our lawyers will appear for you in court. Call us anytime at 617-263-6800 or contact us online. All calls are answered immediately at all hours of the day or night.