Articles Posted in Drugs

Federal authorities reportedly arrested 17 people in South Florida – and are seeking dozens more – in connection with a pill mill operation that reportedly engaged in the trafficking of some 45,000 prescription Oxycodone pills.

Our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyers understand that officials with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration honed in on an operation in Dania Beach more than a year ago after a pharmacist called the state’s pill mill tip line to report a suspicious amount of pain medication being dispensed.

Prescription drug trafficking and fraud are on the top of law enforcement’s priority list in Florida and in South Florida in particular, an area that has become notorious for easy access to habit-forming pills.

A number of legislative measures, including the introduction of the pill mill tip line, have been introduced in recent years to combat the problem. There was also the establishment of the “pill mill database,” which aims to curb doctor-shopping and prescription fraud by requiring physicians to submit the names of those given certain types of pain medications.

However, addiction is powerful, so demand remains high and law enforcement officials remain on alert. These types of sweeps are not uncommon.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, after that initial tip came in, investigators uncovered a network of at least 45 individuals who were allegedly using stolen prescription pads to obtain tens of thousands of pain pills to sell on the street.

To give you an idea of the profit margin here, a single Oxycodone pill can command $30 on the street, which means a full bottle of 180 pills could generate a $3,000 profit for the person selling.

In addition to arresting those involved in the street sales, agents also arrested four of those who worked at the Palm Beach County pain management facility, which dissolved last year after failure to file annual state reports.

While conducting the sweep in the early morning hours, detectives also reportedly found $7,000 in cash at one location, along with two kilograms of cocaine and an AK-47 assault rifle.

Although such actions can result in federal drug trafficking charges, those arrested in the course of this investigation will be prosecuted at the state level.

But make no mistake: state charges aren’t any less serious. Florida Statute 893.135 holds that any person who intentionally and illegally sells, buys, manufactures, delivers into the state or is in possession of more than 30 grams of controlled prescription drugs, such as Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, opium or morphine is guilty of drug trafficking, which is a first-degree felony, punishable by between 15 to 25 years in prison. If a person subsequently overdoses and dies as a result of that act, it’s considered a capital felony.

In this case, officials say they consider this “a good start,” and intend to continue searching for the remaining suspects. Unfortunately, those arrested on charges connected to prescription drug abuse may fail to take the charges seriously. Often, these defendants have little experience with the criminal justice system. Failure to consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Broward can have significant consequences.

If you’re arrested for illegal possession or trafficking of prescription drugs, don’t take any chances with your future. Immediately contact an experienced criminal defense firm. You have a number of effective defense strategies to consider.
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Those requiring a Fort Lauderdale drug crime defense have been negatively impacted by a stunning veto by Gov. Rick Scott that would have allowed the chance for treatment, rather than extended prison time.

Fort Lauderdale drug crime attorneys are disappointed by the governor’s decision, which even according to The Miami Herald editorial board, defied common sense.

This was a bi-partisan bill with the support of both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate. In fact, 152 of 156 lawmakers backed the measure – which, given the intense rivalry on both sides is truly noteworthy.

The bill would have allowed people with drug abuse problems who had committed non-violent crimes to enter into a drug treatment program after they finished half of their original sentence.

Gov. Rick Scott said this would be an affront to victims and an unnecessary exception to Florida’s 85 percent rule, which mandates that prisoners must serve 85 percent of their sentences before they are eligible for release.

However, this was not a situation in which these individuals would have been simply free. They would have remained under intensive supervision and also would have had to toe the line on a host of conditions, which would have included enrollment in career preparation and education programs. Getting into the program, too, would not have been a cakewalk. It would have required the rubber stamp of the judge who sentenced him or her, and they would have remained on probation even after completion.

The Republican sponsor of the bill, Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff from Fort Lauderdale, said she was profoundly disappointed in the governor’s political move – which frankly, doesn’t even make a whole lot of political sense, given the support it had thus far received. She countered his argument that this was a public safety issue by asserting that these would be strictly non-violent offenders. So we’re not talking about rapists and murderers here. We’re talking about individuals who have a problem and need help.

The governor said that the 40-year low in the state’s crime rate could be attributed to tough sentencing laws. The fact is, however, that other states that less harsh sentencing standards are also seeing a decrease in crime rates – so that argument doesn’t hold weight either.

Cost wouldn’t have been an issue because the program would have been paid for with funds from the existing budget – although it’s been proven that a number of drug treatment programs are actually cheaper than prison.

And it’s not as if these individuals were never going to be released. They would eventually be back out on the streets one way or the other. Why not decrease their chances that they’ll end up incarcerated again by giving them a chance to rebuild their lives?

The truth of the matter is, when you allow a person the opportunity to obtain treatment, you’re decreasing the risk of re-offending – which ultimately saves taxpayers money and is better for society as a whole.

Considering that drug crimes account for more than 26 percent of the inmates in Florida prisons – not to mention that drug abuse is likely to blame for a host of other property crimes and violent crimes – this would have been a win for everyone.

While this veto is a major let-down, it just further underscores the immense importance of securing a skilled Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney if you are accused of a crime.
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After more than two decades on the run, a man convicted of Miami drug trafficking has been arrested in Ecuador, after he himself was the victim of a crime.

Miami drug trafficking defense attorneys understand that much changes in two decades – witnesses’ memories fade or they die, new laws are passed and sometimes repealed, and technology races ahead. If there is a large lapse between the time a crime was committed and a trial, any one of these factors can have an impact on your case – some in your favor, others not.

It’s important that regardless of the circumstances, you have an attorney who is prepared to address these issues.

Reporters noted that in this case, the judge and attorneys from both sides had to spend time researching what the laws were in 1990, when the suspect fled on the eve of closing arguments in his criminal trial for conspiracy to import cocaine. They had to read over type-written paperwork and will need to pull more files from an archive system, which they will have to scan into the updated computerized database.

Here’s what we know of what led them to that point:

The now-50-year-old suspect was reportedly working with some 12 others in a scheme to import a large shipment of cocaine into Miami from Columbia. Their plan was foiled, though, in the fall of 1989 when Coast Guard crews saw the bales of drugs floating in the ocean near a freighter.

The suspect, along with the dozen others, was arrested and put on trial. On the day of closing arguments, he fled to Ecuador. He was convicted on the conspiracy charge, but not on the actual trafficking charge.

The Miami native lived on the run for 22 years, working in construction and having a child with his common-law wife in Ecuador.

He was only arrested after his car was broken into and his wallet stolen. When he went to get a replacement license, he was stopped at a checkpoint where authorities were checking driving documents. He was arrested for carrying no current identification papers. He was then turned over to immigration authorities, who then extradited him to Miami to face his original charges.

In a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to jumping bond, for which he could face 10 years. On the cocaine conspiracy charge, he faces another 10 years to life. These terms would have to be served consecutively.

His family, who lost a house and $75,000 they had posted for his bond on the original charges, say they have always believed he was not treated fairly in the original trial.

In Florida, drug trafficking definitions and penalties are laid out in FL Statute 893.135. Essentially, you can be charged with drug trafficking if you sell, buy, make, transport or bring into the state a variety of different drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin or illegal pain medications.

The charge of trafficking, as opposed to possession, typically depends on the amount of drug you are caught with, and whether it appears it was intended for sale or personal use.
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A significant drug case out of Miami has gone through the Florida Supreme Court and now will be tested by the U.S. Supreme Court, which will determine if drug-sniffing dogs can be used to detect marijuana, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Fort Lauderdale drug cases can range from a misdemeanor possession case to a felony trafficking case. Charges can range from months in jail to decades in prison, depending on the type of drug, quantity, location of where it was found and other factors.

An experienced Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer will tell you that these cases often come down to whether police have probable cause to conduct a search. People who get arrested for these offenses typically are arrested after a stop in their vehicle or in their home after an extensive investigation.

In both scenarios, police must have a reason to investigate the drug crime. They must have a search warrant to get into a person’s house and sometimes even into their vehicle. This requires an officer to get a judge to sign off on a warrant after they’ve provided evidence that they should be able to do a search.

And that’s what this case comes down to. A Miami man was convicted of growing marijuana illegally at his home. Officers got a tip that this was going on and took a drug-sniffing dog to the man’s house. The dog, through its training, indicated there was an odor of marijuana coming from inside the house. Based on that information, police got a search warrant from a judge and busted in, finding 179 marijuana plants inside.

But the case was appealed after the man was convicted. Florida’s justices threw out the evidence against the man, saying that dog sniff tests shouldn’t be allowed at the home of any citizen unless the police had probable cause. Florida prosecutors, however, contend that dogs sniffing for drugs don’t constitute a “search.”

Eighteen states have supported the appeal to the nation’s high court. The Times reports that it usually sides with police in major cases. In a 2011 case, justices ruled that officers in Kentucky didn’t have time to obtain a search warrant and were justified when they broke into house after smelling marijuana. But the justices rejected law enforcement officers’ use of thermal imagers, which can detect marijuana-growing operations from the outside, as a privacy issue.

The case should be heard in April with an expected ruling being issued sometime in June. This will be a major case for drug cases in Fort Lauderdale because it will determine how police can use these drug-sniffing dogs, which have come under scrutiny as unreliable. Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorneys will certainly be watching to see how this case is argued and what facts are presented to show that drug-sniffing dogs are legitimately trained and why the state thinks they can just take a dog up to a person’s house to seek criminal actions against residents.
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The Fort Lauderdale Police Department arrested one of their own this week for alleged drug crimes. Fort Lauderdale Police accuse Officer Justin Krashefski, 27 of buying drugs while on duty in his marked Fort Lauderdale police cruiser.

Police chief Frank Adderley stated that “This is not representative of law enforcement officers, particularly Fort Lauderdale police. When we find indications of crimes being committed, we investigate.” I agree with the Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley that crimes such as this arrest may not necessarily be “representative of law enforcement officers.” However, I do believe that those who head police agencies such as the Fort Lauderdale Police Department are too often quick to dismiss alleged criminal misconduct committed by those sworn to protect and serve. For example, remember Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Paul C. Lawrence? This is the Florida Highway Patrol Officer arrested for falsifying hundreds of traffic citations? It was only after dozens of complaints about the Florida Highway Patrol Officer before an investigation actually initiated.

In this case, Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Justin Krashefski purchased drugs while claiming to be involved in a “police investigation.” He demanded that a man meet him where he purchased the drugs. That man happened to be an undercover police informant. Needless to say, the informant brought this to the attention of the authorities. Police set up a sting operation where an undercover informant met Officer Krashefski. At this meeting the Officer purchased five Oxycodone pills from the undercover informant.

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Michael Douglas’s son was sentenced to five (5) years in United States Federal Prison for “distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine”

Cameron Douglas, 31, pleaded with U.S. District Judge Richard Berman for a break in his sentence. Both his father, Michael Douglas, as well as his mother, Diandra Luker, appeared at his sentencing. Those who were present stated that his mother, Luker, broke down in tears. His father, Michael Douglas, fought back tears but was obviously overwhelmed with emotion.

Douglas was arrested at a Manhattan nightclub in July of 2009. At his sentencing he begged with the Judge for a lighter and more reasonable sentence. He stated, “I believe, your honor, things will be different this time,” he added. If given a second chance, he said, “I will never squander that opportunity.”

Although the Judge received numerous letters from many celebrities begging for leniency for Douglas, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman appeared determined to issue the 5 year sentence.

The Judge appeared unmoved by many of the celebrity letters. In fact, he stated that many of the letters implied that Douglas should not be made an example of just because he is the son of famed actor Michael Douglas. The Judge went on to state that, “None acknowledged appropriately the numerous impacts to victims of society for dealing drugs.”

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In a sting dubbed Operation Pill Crusher, two dozen alleged drug dealers in Kentucky have been arrested and accused of obtaining prescription drugs at popular Florida pain clinics and taking them back to Kentucky to sell. A Miami Herald investigation published last week showed that pain clinics in Florida — particularly Broward County — are dispensing prescription narcotics daily to traffickers traveling from Kentucky and other states.
Doctors charge a few hundred dollars for an MRI that justifies the prescription and, in many cases, the drug seekers get monthly prescriptions filled at the clinics, for as many as 300 pills, without ever having to go to a pharmacy.

The drug dealers are making thousands of dollars for each trip to Florida. Each 30 milligram Roxicodone is selling for $30 on the street in Kentucky, a 15 milligram Roxicodone is selling for $15, and a Xanax brings about $4.

The stories showed that local doctors are dispensing the pills with little or no oversight — exploiting lax state laws and health regulations — while feeding an epidemic spreading across the eastern United States. On Tuesday, Kentucky law enforcement agents were rounding up alleged traffickers who police say are subsidizing car, van and airplane loads of people traveling to Fort Lauderdale to get prescription drugs from dozens of clinics.

Thousands of Kentuckians are traveling to South Florida’s pain clinics. Once there, people get prescriptions for hundreds of painkillers like oxycodone, sold under the brand name Roxicodone, and for Xanax, an anti-depressant.

A combination of factors has led to the much-traveled Kentucky-Broward County pipeline. Kentucky and 37 other states electronically monitor the number of narcotics prescriptions a person obtains from physicians. But Florida has no such system.

ANSARA RESPONDS
Pain clinics are everywhere in Broward County. I took a short drive the other day down Oakland Park Boulevard and saw over seven pain clinics just a few miles apart. It is no secret that the Fort Lauderdale Police and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office keep a tight watch on these pain clinics.
Interestingly, Florida has no system in place to monitor doctor shopping. That combined with lax health regulations have created a free for all for drug traffickers. In Kentucky, the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting system, known by the acronym KASPER, tracks the people who are prescribing, dispensing and obtaining pills.

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PLANTATION – Leaders of the city’s police union want to change their contract so officers won’t have to take drug tests without knowing who accused them of abusing drugs.

“I could go to a pay phone right now and say, ‘Officer X is taking drugs?’ ” said Michael Hanlon, president of the police union. Under current rules, the department could force that officer to take a drug test.

“That’s just absolutely unacceptable,” he said. “They don’t have to even provide proof the confidential informant exists.”

ANSARA RESPONDS
It is no secret that drug abuse can occur even within law enforcement. It appears that the Plantation Police Department is grumbling because under these new rules police officers may be drug tested should a “confidential informant” report drug abuse by an officer.

I believe that law enforcement must be held to a higher standard. Law enforcement officers hold extreme power and this fact should not be overlooked. This new policy simply makes more sense than random testing. If an officer has a problem getting drug tested than maybe this is the wrong profession to be in. Why should a police agency have to show an officer “proof” that a confidential informant exist? Last time I checked I am pretty sure that police officers worked for the police agency; not vice versa.

This new policy will allow any individual or perhaps even another officer to anonymously confront an officer’s possible drug use without fear of retaliation. It is no secret that drug abuse among law enforcement officers does in fact occur. Now we have a better policy to address it. Let’s hope the Plantation Police Department does the right thing and ultimately adopts this new policy.

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Michael Phelps embarrassed himself again after a triumphant Olympics, this time getting his picture snapped as he inhaled from a marijuana pipe. The photo wound up in a British tabloid Sunday, forcing Phelps to publicly apologize and his handlers to deal with sponsors who are surely none too pleased about the swimmer’s choices away from the pool.

“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Phelps said in the statement released by one of his agents. “I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

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