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Police in Harwich, Massachusetts observed Gianni Trombetta engaged in what they believed to be a Narcotics Sale in a local parking lot. The time and date of this sale was not disclosed in the attached article however there is a suggestion that police were investigating this matter for months. An arrest warrant was secured and at a later time Trombetta was arrested. Police found over eighteen grams of cocaine in his possession at the time of the arrest. This is a quantity that satisfies the threshold for Trafficking Cocaine in Massachusetts. Subsequently officers searched Trombetta’s home. They did so after obtaining a Search Warrant. During the execution of the search warrant officers found more cocaine, approximately ten grams worth. Jilliam Prudeaux who was living at that address with Trombetta was arrested. She has been charged with Possession With the Intent to Distribute Cocaine.

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http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2011/04/12/harwich-pair-arrested-on-cocaine-distrib?blog=80

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Cape Cod Drug Trafficking Defense Law Firm

This article makes me suspicious about the validity of the search warrant. The Massachusetts case of Commonwealth v. Olivares, 30 Mass.App.Ct. 596 (1991) the Massachusetts Appeals Court found there was no probable cause to search a residence where there was no specific information in an affidavit connecting the defendant’s residence to drug sales except observation of the defendant departing from the house and going to his place of business where a controlled buy occurred. If that is the situation here then Prudeaux has a chance to have the search suppressed.

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According to a report in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune a couple, Nicole Callahan and Brad Barton, living on Vernon Street in Haverhill invited Robert Donovan and Daniel Barley to their home. Shortly after their arrival one of the two brandished a Firearm. They demanded money from the victims. The couple said that they did not have any money. Barton was then pistol whipped. Callahan saw a gun pointed at her. The assailants left. The police were called. Callahan provided their names and stated that both were staying at a local hotel. Haverhill police went to the hotel and located Donovan and Barley in a car. A search of the car revealed a firearm. The defendants have been charged with Possession of a Firearm, Possession of Ammunition, Armed Robbery and Assault With a Dangerous Weapon. The case is currently pending in the Haverhill District Court.

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http://www.eagletribune.com/haverhill/x564244885/Two-men-arrested-for-armed-robbery-assault-on-Bradford-couple#

Any Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney reading this article will immediately sense something is illogical with the victim’s story. The defendants who are staying in a local hotel were supposed to “hang out” with Barton and Callahan. They get “invited” to their home, an apartment. For no reason they pull out a gun and demand money. Why would the defendants think that these people had money to surrender? The “something else” the article refers to that the defendants “had in mind” is exactly what a good criminal lawyer will investigate to defend this case.

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John Coppinger is a level three Sex Offender living in southeastern Massachusetts. Two days ago he walked into a Target store in Kingston around 9:30 in the evening. According to a report in the Quincy Patriot Ledger Coppinger asked a store employee if it was okay for him to wear shorts in the store. He then took off his pants and was wearing “revealing skin-tight underpants” and walked around the store, stopping at one point in the woman’s bathroom. Store security personnel escorted him out of the store to the parking lot where he was arrested by local police. Coppinger is being charged with Open and Gross Lewdness and Accosting and Annoying a Person of the Opposite Sex. The charges are pending in the Plymouth District Court. Coppinger has been convicted of Open and Gross Lewdness eleven times in the past.

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http://www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x1076645165/Repeat-sex-offender-arrested-in-Kingston-sans-pants

Massachusetts Open and Gross Lewdness Defense Lawyer

Acts like this are commonly referred to as exhibitionism or flashing. In general terms this occurs when someone exposes his or her private parts in a public place. This act is performed to attract the attention of others or for sexual purposes. When it is intended to cause shock or alarm the act becomes a criminal offense in Massachusetts. Some people have a psychological condition that causes them to behave in this manner. The condition is called apodysophilia. There are no conclusive scientific theories as to what causes this behavior. Treatment for the disorder typically consists of psychotherapy and/or medications that effect hormones.

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Armed with a Search Warrant yesterday Brockton, Massachusetts Police went to 28 Bunker Avenue, the home of Kamal Smith. They arrived to find Smith in his bedroom. He had near him a handgun, ammunition and some Marijuana. During the search officers also found nearly twenty grams of crack cocaine with an estimated street value of two thousand dollars. The bags of crack were individually wrapped. It is likely that Smith will be charged with Trafficking Cocaine Over Fourteen Grams in the Plymouth County Superior Court. It is also expected that charges of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm will issue as well. Additionally, over twenty Percocet pills were found and seized. Smith faces charges of Possession With the Intent to Distribute Class C and a School Zone Violation for this.

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http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/cops_and_courts/x1076645145/Brockton-police-seize-2-000-worth-of-crack-cocaine-in-drug-bust

Brockton Massachusetts Drug Trafficking Defense Lawyer

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So what are the indicia of Trafficking here as opposed to simple possession. The prosecution will argue several factors in support of this contention. The quantity of the drugs is most significant. The district attorney will have a drug expert, probably an experienced narcotics officer who will say that the quantity of drugs exceeded what is expected for someone who consumes those substances. The individual packaging also suggests the intent to sell. The gun they will argue was used as protection from potential drug rip offs. Conversely, Smith might be able to show a large drug habit and a recent purchase of the drugs. The absence of scales, packaging materials, drug receipts and more may help cast some doubt on the allegations of distribution as well. Smith’s Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney will investigate defenses such as this as well as likely mounting an attack on the legality of the Search.

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Two days ago Donald Slason of Dedham, Massachusetts was arrested. He has been charged with Possession of Child Pornography and Transportation of Child Pornography in the Massachusetts Federal District Court. No details other than the United States Attorney’s press release were provided.

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http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/News/National_News/MASSACHUSETTS_MAN_INDICTED_ON_CHILD_PORNOGRAPHY_CHARGES/42718

Massachusetts Federal Child Pornography Defense Lawyer

18 U.S.C. §2252 and 18 U.S.C. §2252A are the primary Federal Child Pornography Statutes. Federal law takes effect when the images are transported across state lines or when the image was created with materials that were transported across state lines. People sending this material to someone in the same state might still be subject to this law if the server for the email is in another state. Mailing Child Pornography triggers the viability of this statute. It is also illegal to download Child Pornography from internet websites. Anyone convicted for transporting or distributing child pornography is subject to a five year mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years. The federal statute has certain affirmative defenses built in to it. This however is not an exhaustive list of the potential defenses that can be set forth during the trial of these charges. Many downloads come in bulk transfers made unintentionally. This can occur through emails or file share programs. People innocently searching for certain information can inadvertently access and download child porn. For instance, the website whitehouse.com used to be a website containing adult content. People who searched for this site thinking they were looking up facts about our presidents’ home were innocently surprised to find out that they were looking at something other than the White House. It is critical that anyone charged with this crime immediately contact an Experienced Child Pornography Defense Lawyer.

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Ali Jameal McMillan was arrested on Tuesday near a high school in Lynn, Massachusetts. According to the Lynn Item various Lynn Police officers were conducting surveillance after getting anonymous complaints about suspected drug activity in a particular location. During the operation officers found many people engaged in drug dealing transactions in that area. On Tuesday officers observed an individual get out of a car, walk towards another car and get back into his car. The car drove away and was stopped. The passenger, McMillan was observed reaching for his pocket. McMillan was told to get out of the car. He was searched and found in possession of thirty grams of cocaine. He has been charged with Trafficking Cocaine. The case will be prosecuted in the Essex County Superior Court in Salem.

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Salem Superior Court Drug Trafficking Defense Lawyer

Criminal Defense Lawyers in Massachusetts deal with cases like this one on a regular basis. This case, like most drug cases implicates Search and Seizure issues. McMillan’s lawyer will likely focus on the propriety of the stop of the car in which he was riding and the search of his person that followed. Stopping the car on a hunch is not permissible. Nor is the fact that the car was traveling in or just left a high crime neighborhood. An objective standard is used to see if the officer stopping the car had the requisite reasonable suspicion to justify the stop. The prosecution must show that the officer with reasonable suspicion to believe a crime had been, was being, or was about to be committed, at the time of the stop. The detail provided by the newspaper report fails to adequately meet that threshold.

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Shortly after 11:30 yesterday morning someone living in the area of 18th Street in Haverhill, Massachusetts became concerned when observing a couple acting suspiciously. The anonymous person called the police. Officers arrived to find Tanya Burnham and her ex-husband Brayton Burnham in a car. As the officers approached the vehicle they saw Tanya put something in her purse. Brayton put something underneath the seat. When he got out of the car something dropped a bag of Heroin. The police located syringes containing a brown liquid believed to be Heroin. Apparently the Burnhams were about to shoot up. In the back seat of the car was Tanya’s four year old daughter. Both have been charged with Possession of Heroin and Child Endangerment in the Haverhill District Court. Brayton Burnham has been charged with Drug Trafficking on an unrelated matter in the Superior Court.

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http://www.eagletribune.com/haverhill/x1332408792/Police-4-year-old-girl-watches-as-mom-uses-heroin#

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Haverhill Heroin Possession Defense Lawyer

Heroin is ingested many ways. It can be snorted, smoked or in this case injected. The younger user typically starts smoking or snorting heroin. This is because many people believe that ingestion in this manner will not lead to addiction. Every study shows that this belief is wrong. Any type of ingestion of heroin can lead to addiction. Another reason it is taken in this form is that people want to avoid the label associated with intravenous drug use. Eventually however when the user becomes accustomed to the drug through snorting or smoking they graduate to injecting the substance. I have represented hundreds of heroin users in my career and one thing remains constant. Every heroin addict ultimately commits other drug related crimes; i.e. distribution, trafficking, breaking and entering or larceny to pay for the substance. Experienced Massachusetts Drug Defense Lawyers know how to defend against these charges and also how to get their clients into programs that end their addiction. Often times successful completion of those programs serves as an alternative to a jail sentence or conviction.

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Karen Morla Ramos is from the Domincan Republic. She was flying on JetBlue and questioned at a border checkpoint. Law Enforcement officers became concerned about the candor of her responses and conducted a pat down search. They found Ramos concealing cocaine in something resembling a diaper. The amount of cocaine in her possession exceeded one thousand grams. Ramos now stands charged with Trafficking Cocaine Over Two Hundred Grams. If convicted she will have to serve a fifteen year mandatory minimum sentence. She is currently being held on ten thousand dollars cash bail.

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http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1332407614/Police-charge-woman-had-coke-in-diaper#

East Boston Cocaine Trafficking Defense Lawyer

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Drug smuggling takes on many forms throughout Massachusetts and the entire country. An article on http://investigation.discovery.com/investigation/drug-mules/smuggling-slideshow.html discusses several methods of smuggling drugs. One involves swallowing the substance which is sealed in a balloon or condom. The smuggler or “mule” then takes laxatives to get the drug out of his or her body. This can be dangerous particularly if the balloon breaks. Sometimes drugs are smuggled in computers. Bras have been filled with drugs. Drugs have been stuffed into animals and bugs. Other people smuggle drugs through soles of shoes. Children are used to carry drugs through airports as well.

Ramos’ method for cocaine smuggling is somewhat unique. It appears that her best chance for success in her defense is a challenge to the airport search. Two questions must be addressed when deciding this issue. First, was Ramos free to leave. Second, if Ramos was not free to leave, did the police have reasonable grounds for suspicion, which would put their conduct in the clear. Ramos’ fight will be a tough one for her Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer.

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Jason Cavooto was arrested in December of 2010 after a Search Warrant was executed at his home in Marlborough, Massachusetts. During the search the police found a methamphetamine lab in a shed on Cavooto’s property. They also located a loaded Firearm in his house. It is alleged that Cavooto had been running the lab for around a year. Items associated with the manufacture of the drug were also found during the search.

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http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/police_and_fire/x1840140179/Marlborough-meth-suspects-case-headed-to-grand-jury

Meth Labs in Massachusetts

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Methamphetamine Labs in Massachusetts are extremely uncommon. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) website reports that between the years of 2004 and 2010 twenty two meth labs were identified in Massachusetts. This is a relatively small number when compared to California which had one hundred seventy such labs in 2010 or Oklahoma which had two hundred nineteen the same year. Meth labs are extremely hazardous. Waste cleanup is a major undertaking once a lab has been identified and seized. Houses that are used a meth labs are often condemned and torn down. Recognizing meth labs is not easy for the average person. These labs are fond in campers, barns, sheds, houses, motel rooms and beds of pick-up trucks. They are often in residential neighborhoods. Meth labs have strong odors often mistaken for cat urine. Household products are used to make the product. These items include paint thinner, gasoline, freon, ether, drano, battery acid, cold tablets, propane cylinders, hot plates, diet aids and more. Because of its addicting quality and the environment damage associated with this drug the penalties for a conviction of Methamphetamine Crimes in Massachusetts can be very severe.

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According to a report in the Boston Globe heroin is the most popular drug being sold on the streets north of Boston. Over four hundred fifty thousand “units” of Heroin were seized in that area last year. Cocaine was the second largest seller followed by Marijuana, Percocets and OxyContin. Heroin Dealers in Lynn, Massachusetts serve most of the Essex County while Heroin Dealers in Lawrence, Massachusetts target Maine and New Hampshire. Heroin might be the cheapest drug on the streets of Massachusetts right now. The article claims that most of the heroin is being imported from Mexico. It is often distributed by local and national gangs.

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2011/03/20/heroin_tops_drug_use_in_lawrence_lowell_task_force_head_says/

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Massachusetts Heroin Trafficking Defense Lawyer

Reports suggest that there exist at least seven, possibly eight drug cartels in Mexico. They have essentially consolidated into two rival alliances while attempting to maintain their independence as organizations. Mexico produces a very small percentage of the world’s however it is a major supplier to the United States. The cartels have recently formed relationships with street gangs and prison gangs to improve and enlarge their trafficking networks. The cartel control over their activities in Mexico has been increased through intimidating and corrupting their law enforcement officials. There is some suggestion that the demise of Colombian Cocaine cartels over ten years ago has contributed to the rise in Mexican drug trafficking activities.

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