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Boston Police executed a sting operation last Friday night, which led to the arrest of two men accused of dealing “Molly” in South Boston.

According to a statement from police, officers arranged to meet a man at 150 Northern Avenue in order to purchase purchase 1.5 grams of “Molly” (a concentrated form of MDMA) for an undisclosed amount of money. At the chosen meeting time, two men arrived in a pickup truck. The passenger exited the vehicle, entered the establishment, and made a call to inform the “buyer” to meet him inside. Officers then entered the business, and identified themselves to the suspect as Boston Police.

The suspect then tried to put something from his hand into his mouth, an officer grabbed his arm, and a small plastic bag containing a white crystal like substance (believed to be “Molly”) fell to the floor.
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Police made two arrests after pulling a car over on suspicion that the occupants were smoking marijuana, and found marijuana and several other illegal drugs.

Brookline Police stopped the car after police smelled burning marijuana coming from the vehicle and saw something smoking that was being passed between the passengers. According to the police report, when the officer inquired about what they had seen being passed in the car, the driver handed over the burnt marijuana cigarette. According to police, during the stop, they discovered a warrant for the passenger’s arrest for motor vehicle offenses. After placing him under arrest, police searched him and found the “Molly” along with Bupropion, and other drug paraphernalia.

The passenger was subsequently charged with possession of Molly, a powder form of Ecstasy, which is a Class B drug. He was also charged with possession of a class E drug, and cited for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. One of the officers recognized the Molly due to increased awareness of the drug following a recent death of a young woman who took the substance.
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Two individuals were arrested by Cambridge Police earlier this month, following an exchange in which a detective witnessed what he perceived to be a transaction involving a firearm, drugs, or both.

An ununiformed detective spotted one of the individuals, and believed that the individual was concealing a firearm, and after following him witnessed what he believed was a transaction.

When the officer approached the men, they both attempted to flee, but were captured. One of the suspects had a firearm in his backpack, but no license to carry or firearm identification card. After searching both of the men, police recovered a bag containing 20 grams of marijuana and one firearm.
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A Roxbury man was reportedly arrested for the burglary of a Brookline church based on police finding his fingerprints on a candy bowl.

The charges included breaking and entering at night with the intent to commit a felony, larceny from a building, and larceny of a motor vehicle.

The theft was reported by an individual living within the rectory at approximately 3 in the morning. The missing items included a laptop, iPad, flat screen television, and the rectory’s pickup truck.
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Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced that he is mandating a change to Justice Department policy regarding no longer requiring charging of crimes with mandatory minimum sentences in the cases of individuals who have committed low-level, non-violent drug crimes who do not have ties to large-scale organizations, gangs or cartels.The current mandatory minimum sentencing requirements, which were a product of the 1980s war on drugs campaign, severely limit judicial discretion in imposing shorter prison sentences.

Under Holder’s proposal, defendants will be charged with offenses carrying sentences that are more in accordance with their individual conduct, rather than prison sentences, which are more appropriate for violent criminals or high level drug offenders.

Federal prisons are currently operating at an estimated 40% above capacity. Reportedly, some half of the inmates are serving time for drug related crimes, many of whom have some sort of substance abuse disorder. An additional estimated nine to ten million prisoners are processed through local jails each year.

The Attorney General believes that mandatory minimum sentences are counterproductive, don’t necessarily decrease recidivism, and make people distrusting of the justice system.

A group of bipartisan senators recently introduced legislation that would give federal judges more discretion in applying mandatory minimum sentences in certain drug offender cases.

The new approaches are being referred to as the “Smart On Crime” initiative. Additional suggestions include the diversion of state funds toward treatment and supervision, rather than new prison construction.
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Two men accused of committing a hate crime at South Station were arraigned on charges of unarmed robbery, assault and battery, and a civil rights violating with injury in a Boston court late last month.

Both individuals were subsequently held on $15,000 bail.

Investigators claim that the victim of the attack was waiting inside the lobby for the South Station Commuter Rail early one Saturday morning when the two defendants allegedly began yelling homophobic slurs at him without any prior provocation. Transit police say the man ignored the men and eventually asked them to leave him alone. Police say the men then returned five minutes later, at which point they punched the man and stole his phone before fleeing.

The victim was later treated at a local hospital for injuries to his face. Authorities said they used surveillance tape footage in conjunction with the man’s cellphone to locate the suspects.

One of the men admitted to police during questioning that he and the other defendant got into an argument with the victim, during which time he punched the man.
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A woman living in New York has been accused of stealing nearly half a million dollars from One Fund Boston, a fund meant to help victims of the Boston Marathon attack.The woman allegedly submitted extensive documentation showing that she had been admitted to a Boston hospital with a traumatic brain injury.

The notarized documents reportedly demonstrated that the woman had been admitted to the Boston Medical Center for two days, and then transferred to the Albany Medical Center for an additional ten days. The documents included medical records stating that the woman suffered from long-term memory loss, impaired speech, and loss of motor function. She also reportedly claimed that she would require future surgery.

Her claim for $480,000 was approved and paid by One Fun at the end of June. The attorney general has since received a tip that the claim may have been fraudulent. Further investigation revealed that the woman did not check in to either of the hospitals she claimed to have on the dates she claimed. Furthermore, the Attorney General does not believe that the woman was in Boston at the time of the attack.

The woman was arrested last week near her home in New York on a fugitive warrant, and has since been charged with larceny over $250.

Investigators believe that one or two additional individuals may be involved in the alleged scam.
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In Massachusetts, it is a serious offense to operate a motor vehicle after one’s license has been suspended.  However, what people may not be aware of is the different ways that your license or right to drive can be taken away, how long it will be suspended for and what fees you will be required to pay to the Massachusetts Registry, once you have taken steps to have your license reinstated.

The most evident reasons for license suspensions are for serious criminal offenses.  For example, a person convicted of motor vehicular homicide or vehicular manslaughter, will have his or her license suspended for at least fifteen (15) years and, depending on the persons’ record, it could potentially be taken for life.

A license can also be suspended for one (1) to three (3) years if a person is convicted of stealing a motor vehicle, another serious criminal offense. The punishment for driving negligently so as to endanger is a license suspension of 60 days up to one year.  If a person is convicted of leaving the scene of an accident where there is property damage, a license can be suspended for 60 days and up to a year as well.  If there are injuries and a person leaves the scene of the crime, the punishment is even more severe, with suspension ranging from one (1) to two (2) years.  For all of the previous offenses, the reinstatement fee is $500.00 in addition to periods of suspension, which must be served unless the driver is given a hardship license or a suspension reduction by the Board of Appeal for the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

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A United States Attorney recently announced that an alleged Chinatown crime boss has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking, money laundering, and prostitution related criminal activities.The U.S. Attorney said in a statement that the defendant, Wei Xing Chen, pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to the following charges:

  • money-laundering;
  • inducing travel for the purpose of prostitution;
  • conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and benzylpiperazine (BZP), both are forms of the street drug ecstacy;
  • and possession with intent to distribute BZP.

The defendant was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court to 70 months in prison, with two subsequent years of supervised release, an additional $1,000 fine, and forfeiture of his Mercedes and $8,000 in cash.

The U.S. Attorney further reported that a co-defendant in the case pleaded guilty last November to his involvement in the prostitution ring, and was sentenced to two years of probation including six months of home detention.

In a separate sworn statement, the government revealed that the two defendants were among 26 individuals initially indicted in 2011, following a long term FBI investigation into organized crime within Chinatown. In addition to the indictments, government officials also seized 13 guns, $340,000 in cash, and nearly 13,000 of what they believed to be oxycodone pills, in addition to “extensive evidence” of prostitution and illegal gambling.
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If this is your first time being charged with Operating Under the Influence, or OUI, you may be feeling incredibly stressed and uncertain of what’s to come. There are also some things you should know about the nature of the allegations against you.First and foremost, even in the case of a first offense, OUI is deemed a criminal offense. The crime itself is defined as a person operating a motor vehicle (which can include a boat or other vehicle, not only a car), while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Keep in mind also that “operating a vehicle” does not necessarily mean driving on the street. Depending upon the circumstances, even sitting within a car to sober up could be considered operating a vehicle, depending upon the officer’s impression of your behavior, and also the surrounding factual circumstances. In other words, it doesn’t take erratic driving or a dramatic car crash to potentially implicate these charges.

The state of Massachusetts felt that current law was not harsh enough on drivers found guilty of OUI, so in 2005 it passed Melanie’s Law, increasing the penalties for OUI cases. Due to the state’s stance on these types of cases, it is of the utmost importance that you hire a Massachusetts defense lawyer who is knowledgeable about the nature of the charges, and also experienced in representing individuals charged with OUI offenses.

For example, an experienced Massachusetts OUI defense attorney may successfully be able to reduce the potential sentence you are facing as a first time offender from a maximum of two and a half years in jail, a $5,000 fine, and a five year license suspension, to a state-approved alcohol education program. This reduction is not possible after the first offense, and it is not a default reduction. That means the court will not automatically grant it; your attorney will have to secure it for you.
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