Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

A Winthrop auxiliary police officer was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of dealing drugs while on duty.

According to sources, the suspect sold cocaine not only from his police car, but while he was parked within a school zone, amongst other locations. Federal law enforcement officials reportedly followed him for six months, following a tip from a local police department.

The man was reportedly an unpaid volunteer auxiliary police officer for a year and a half prior to his arrest.
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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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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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