These crimes most often involve people who have developed an addiction to highly addictive painkillers rather than people distributing or trafficking the drugs for profit. Quite often, the person developed the addiction after being prescribed the drugs after an injury or medical procedure and is unable to withstand the pain without the drugs after the prescription runs out. This makes this kind of crime less serious, in our opinion, than more traditional drug crimes.
However, the Florida legislature has enacted laws that provide for extremely harsh penalties for people charged with this kind of crime. For instance, it only takes a few pills to reach the trafficking in controlled substances threshold which, at the lowest level, carries a minimum mandatory sentence of three years in Florida state prison. For this reason, any charge involving obtaining prescription drugs or controlled substances by fraud must be taken very seriously and addressed at the earliest opportunity.
]]>The food stamp system in states across the country, also called the Electronic Benefit Transfer system, authorizes people to purchase certain items from stores that are authorized to accept food stamps. In the past, the food stamps were actual paper coupons, but now the system has been modernized so that people in the food stamp program get a card that looks like a regular credit or debit card.
Traditional food stamp fraud involves people lying on their application for food stamps and receiving the benefits when they were not entitled to receive them. However, in this case it appears that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) was looking into a different kind of possible food stamp fraud. Because food stamps are only permitted to be used for certain merchandise, it is against program rules and the law for food stamp recipients to use, and store owners to accept, food stamps for unauthorized items such as liquor, cigarettes and prescription drugs.
In this case, the FDLE is apparently alleging that store owners accepted approximately $3.5 million in food stamp benefits payments last year for unauthorized items and also skimmed cash from those food stamp transactions. The FDLE apparently used undercover officers to go into the various convenience stores and use the food stamps card to buy the unauthorized items and look for improper skimming by convenience store owners.
]]>This kind of crime is often committed by a person who physically resists an arrest by refusing certain commands of a police officer without being violent towards the police officer. However, it can be committed by using words alone. For example, if a police officer is lawfully searching for a suspect, lawfully arresting a person or lawfully seeking assistance and someone says something to the police officer to prevent him/her from performing the job, that person can be charged with obstructing/resisting an officer without violence.
An example occurred recently in a criminal case south of Jacksonville, Florida. The police officer had a court order to be served on an individual, and he had reason to believe she was in a particular apartment. The defendant answered the door and said the woman was not there and that he had not seen her for several days. The police officer soon learned that she was hiding in a closet in the next room. When he found her, she told the police officer that the defendant was covering for her. The defendant was charged with and convicted of obstructing the officer in his lawful duties.
]]>However, assuming the police officer has probable cause to believe you are impaired, he/she still must ensure that your agreement to submit to the breath test is free and voluntary. The police officer cannot give you false information to trick or otherwise encourage you to submit to the breath test.
For instance, many people have a right to a hardship license after having their license suspended pursuant to a DUI case. In a recent case, the police officer gave the defendant false information about his right to a hardship license. For instance, if, in order to get the defendant to submit to the breath test, the police officer told the defendant that he is entitled to a hardship license if he agrees to the breath test but would not be entitled to the hardship license if he refuses the breath test, that would be inaccurate. In that case, the defendant's criminal defense lawyer would make a motion with the court to throw out the results of the breath test because the defendant's agreement to submit to the breath test was not freely and voluntarily obtained, which should invalidate the test results.
]]>Health care fraud, also referred to as Medicare or Medicaid fraud, can take several forms. Some of the more common accusations of health care fraud involve claims that doctors are charging the government for medical services or equipment that were not necessary or doctors are charging the government for medical services or equipment that were not provided. Investigators will look for what they consider to be excessive or unusual billing practices when investigating health care fraud cases.
According to the government, approximately $60 billion in public and private health care spending is lost each year to health care fraud. As a result, the government is increasing its budget to fight what they perceive to be health care fraud. In 2010, the federal government increased the health care fraud budget from $200 million to $300 million. As expected, health care fraud cases have increased. In the six months prior to the speech and press release, 60 health care fraud cases were filed and over 200 people were charged with health care fraud related crimes.
When the government focuses on a particular issue, they will pump more money into enforcement and increase arrests and prosecutions. Often times, the wide net cast by the government to make these cases crosses the line between illegal fraud and honest mistakes and aggressive but legal business practices.
]]>For marijuana and cocaine in Florida, this is often the case. A person has to be in possession of more than 25 pounds of cannabis (marijuana) to be charged with trafficking in marijuana. It is difficult for someone to argue that more than 25 pounds of marijuana is for personal use. A person has to have 28 grams or more of cocaine to be charged with trafficking in cocaine. 28 grams does not actually appear to be a large quantity of anything, but it is certainly more than what one would consider a personal use amount.
However, for illegal pills that are obtained without the appropriate doctor's prescription, a person can have very few pills and be charged with the serious crime of trafficking. It only requires possession of 4 grams or more of pills such as Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycodone, Oxycontin and other similar pills to be charged with trafficking. While those pills actually have just a very small amount of the actual drug in them (most of those pills are comprised of other substances), it is the weight of the entire pill, not just the portion of the actual drug in the pill, that is relevant to the trafficking quantity determination. Four grams of illegal pills are not very much. If a person has a few pills without a prescription, he/she could be subject to a trafficking charge that comes with a minimum mandatory prison sentence of 3 years.
We think this part of the law is unreasonable. There are people who lawfully acquired pain pills due to injuries and other conditions who become addicted to them or otherwise need them to deal with constant pain. It does not take very many pills for that person to be considered a drug trafficker under the law. A person who brings bricks of cocaine into the state in the trunk of the case may be appropriately considered a drug trafficker. Someone who gets a few pain pills without a prescription to treat pain should not be considered a drug trafficker under Florida law.
]]>When a confidential informant gives information to the police or the state that they use to get a search warrant, search a house for illegal drugs and then arrest one of the residents of that house, that other person will have a pending criminal drug case. Normally, during that trial, that defendant will have a right to see all of the evidence and learn of all of the witnesses that the state believes proves his/her guilt and that the defendant needs to prepare his/her defense.
Can the defendant's criminal defense lawyer force the state to disclose the identity of the CI? It depends. While the state is obligated to give the criminal defense attorney all of the relevant evidence in the case, the state does have a limited right to withhold the identity of confidential informants in some situations. The purpose of this rule is to protect and encourage people who provide information about criminal activity to the police. However, a criminal defendant has a Constitutional right to know of any and all information that helps the defendant defend him/herself against criminal charges.
Those two principles are balanced out in Florida law by requiring the state to disclose the identity of a confidential informant in two situations. First, if the state plans to have the CI testify against the defendant in a trial or pretrial hearing, the state must alert the criminal defense lawyer and disclose the identity of the CI so the criminal defense attorney has the chance to talk to the CI and see what he/she has to say. Second, the state has to tell the criminal defense attorney about the CI if failure to disclose the CI would infringe on the defendant's Constitutional rights. In other words, if the criminal defense lawyer can show that the CI is necessary for the defendant to advance a particular defense in the case, the state will likely have to disclose the identity of the confidential informant so the criminal defense attorney can adequately prepare that defense for the defendant. To conceal the identity of the CI when the defendant needs to know about him/her to defend him/herself would violate the defendant's Constitution right to confront witnesses against him/her and the right to a fair trial.
]]>For the few people who do not know, they have police and/or sheriff officers at the jail. It is not a good place to show up drunk demanding visits with inmates. This story falls into the category of stories about people who are trying to get arrested.
DUI cases made by police officers often have holes allowing for various defenses that criminal defense lawyers can exploit when defending DUI clients. However, there are certain things DUI defendants can do to impair their defenses. This is a unique and extreme example but generally, if the police have stopped you and are investigating you for a possible DUI, the best thing to do is to stay calm, be polite and ask for your criminal defense lawyer without providing any information about where you have been, what you have been doing and your current state of mind.
]]>However, this case and the ultimate charges became much more serious when the suspect allegedly slammed the car door on the police officer and broke his arm. At that point, the case went from a fairly minor theft case to a theft and aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer case. In Florida, aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer is a first degree felony which carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison. Therefore, if the suspect had just removed the merchandise from the store without paying and the goods were worth $300 or more, he was looking at a maximum sentence of five years but realistically either probation or a short term of imprisonment. However, by slamming the door on the police officer and breaking his arm, he is now likely looking at a much more significant prison sentence if proven guilty.
]]>As criminal defense lawyers handling cases, including many drug cases, throughout Northeast Florida, we have seen similar cases where people are accused of trying to destroy, or otherwise get rid of, drugs when police come to a residence or hotel room. Many times, when the police search a home, hotel room or other location that is often occupied by multiple people, the police will find drugs somewhere on the premises, but it will not be clear who actually owned or possessed the drugs. The police will often arrest everyone at the premises, or the people closest to the drugs. However, these are often weak constructive possession of drugs cases. If the police and the State cannot prove who actually knew about and had some control over those drugs, the drug charges will not stick.
However, in cases where the police come in and they actually observe a person trying to dispose of the drugs, that is no longer a constructive possession case. If the police can prove that a person actually possessed the drugs and knew what he/she had was illegal drugs, that is an actual possession of drugs case that is often stronger than the constructive possession of drugs cases. If the police come in a home with a search warrant and see someone flushing a large quantity of crack cocaine down the toilet, that is obviously a stronger case than the one where drugs are located somewhere on the premises but not immediately near any particular person.
]]>As the article suggests, there are several reasons why we have seen more arrests for child pornography. First, state, local and federal law enforcement officials are initiating more investigations into the crime. Some crimes do not resonate with the public as much as others. For instance, not everyone can get behind spending a lot of money and resources to fight drug crimes. However, the public will always support officials who make child pornography a priority. Additionally, the technology is better today than it was in the past. This works both ways. People have more access to child pornography with computers and the internet. However, law enforcement officials have better technology to track and catch people who are viewing and sharing illegal pictures and videos.
Regardless of the reasons for the increase, when the police, FBI or other law enforcement agency make an arrest for child pornography, it is practically certain that the case will be treated very seriously by the prosecutors.
]]>We have seen several of these kinds of fraud cases along with similar cases involving fraudulent checks and ATM cards. While these types of schemes do exist, they are not always easy to prove. People on juries expect that ATM machines have surveillance cameras and checks have fingerprints. They expect to see concrete proof of who was involved. However, those important elements of proof are often missing from these investigations. Each case needs to be analyzed to see exactly what can be proven. It is one thing to prove that the bank suffered a loss but quite another to prove exactly how it happened and who was responsible. The money and customer information that are involved in these cases often pass through several hands. It is up to the police and the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt which of those people are responsible for the crime.
]]>Most people think of a major drug dealer moving large quantities of drugs when they think of drug traffickers. However, that is not necessarily the case, particularly when dealing with possession of illegal pills such as Lortab, Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycodone and Oxycontin, among others, without a prescription. It only takes a few pills to meet the requirements for a trafficking in pills charge. For other drugs like crack cocaine, powder cocaine or methamphetamine, there is a bigger difference between drug trafficking and possession. It takes 28 or more grams of cocaine to be charged with trafficking in cocaine and 14 or more grams of methamphetamine to meet the requirements for trafficking in methamphetamine. However, while those amounts are clearly more than short term personal use amounts, when you see them, they still are not the huge quantities of drugs some might expect for a trafficking charge.
With respect to trafficking in marijuana, it takes 25 pounds of marijuana to be charged with trafficking. So for marijuana at least, there is a pretty clear difference between simple possession and trafficking.
For pills, however, the difference is the most minute. It only takes a few pills to be charged with the serious charge of trafficking in pills and face the potential of significant prison time. This is scary because a lot of people may have old pills laying around or may have borrowed some for a particular injury or condition and may unwittingly have a trafficking amount of pills in their home.
In terms of what a person needs to do with the drugs to be charged with trafficking, there is no difference between possession and trafficking. All that is required to be charged with trafficking in illegal drugs is to have the drugs in one's possession. It is the amount, or weight, of the drugs which makes up the key differences depending on the particular drug.
]]>As most people know, if a person drives while under the influence of alcohol to the extent that his normal faculties (i.e. vision, judgment, coordination, balance, speech, etc) are impaired, he/she can be charged with DUI, which is a misdemeanor crime. Although a first or second DUI will always be a misdemeanor, that crime has reached the point where the penalties can be quite severe including jail, probation, community service, a large fine and a suspended license.
However, the charge of DUI can also be a felony charge in some situations and result in much more serious penalties such as significant prison time. If a person gets a third or fourth DUI, the State may have the option of charging the defendant with a third degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. However, the State in the Jacksonville, Florida area typically will still charge those cases as misdemeanors.
However, if a person is alleged to be intoxicated and involved in an accident that causes serious injury or death to another, that person will almost certainly be charged with a felony- either DUI with serious bodily injury or DUI manslaughter. These are very serious cases for which the State often recommends significant jail or prison time.
]]>Law enforcement authorities on the state and federal levels are focusing more and more on child pornography cases. As most people should know, it is a federal crime and a state crime to possess child pornography pictures and videos, create them, share them, distribute them or receive them. Viewing child pornography on one's computer and then deleting the file is illegal. Law enforcement officials have effective computer tracking technology which can tell them which computers may contain child pornography files. As this technology gets better and more people use the internet (which gives people better access and opportunity to view child pornography pictures and videos), state and federal law enforcement will make more and more arrests. And when these arrests are made and child pornography charges are brought, the potential penalties are very serious.
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