New York Criminal Lawyer Blog

The police in Brooklyn suspected that a drug repacking business was carried out in an apartment building by the members of one family. They wrote down all the facts they have so far gathered about the heroin-repacking business in an affidavit and they applied for a search warrant. The judge granted them a search warrant and twelve officers formed a raiding party that would serve the search warrant.

When the police arrived at the ground floor of the building, a man was coming out. When the police announced their presence, the man slammed the front door of the apartment building in the policemen’s faces. He then climbed the stairs to the second floor apartment screaming.

The police used a battering ram to enter the building and they used the same battering ram to gain access to the apartment since the apartment door had been locked and no one was answering the door. Domestic violence was suspected.

This summary holdover proceeding is brought by the New York County District Attorney’s office under a new program created by the Prosecutor’s office and other governmental agencies designed to evict drug dealers from residential and other real property used for illegal drug trade, business or manufacture pursuant to RPAPL Section 715.

This eviction program is the progeny of the explosion of drug related crimes which have overwhelmed the City of New York and have sent a wave of fear throughout the communities of the city. The District Attorney’s office has realized that many of the drug dealers are conducting their insidious trade directly from residential premises, with impunity, since many local residents and neighbors are in fear for their safety and lives to report such illegal activities to the authorities. The Prosecutor’s office and other City agencies realized the need for intervention.

Police officers found heroin and the total amount of $22,983.00 in the apartment of the respondents. Respondent-tenants contend that Petitioner has failed to present any evidence of illegal drug crime conducted in the premises since there was no evidence offered by Petitioner to show that any of the Respondent-tenants engaged in a sales transaction of a controlled substance nor did the police find any controlled criminal substance in the premises.

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A complainant man seeks an order to prevent the justices of the Supreme Court and the district attorney from proceeding to try him on a criminal charge returned against him by the grand jury.

The indictment charges the complainant and another man with various degrees of possession of a dangerous drug. The complainant is charged with first degree of possession of 16 ounces and more of heroin, fourth degree of possession of a narcotic drug with intent to sell and sixth degree of possession of a dangerous drug.

The complainant, the other man and several others were also prosecuted under a nine-count federal charges, in which the complainant was charged with counts one and two of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of one kilogram of heroin, attempt to distribute half a kilogram of heroin and conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute quantities of heroin.

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In this drug crime, the People contend that the defendant, a 17-year old with no prior criminal record, assisted a co-defendant in the sale of 7/8ths of an ounce of cocaine to an undercover police purchaser. Defendant was then a drug user with a dependency problem.

A New York Criminal law Attorney said that a presentence evaluation of this defendant by the Department of Probation indicates in part that he is “presently a resident of an upstate drug program apparently raised by interested and caring parents began abusing drugs at approximately the age of 13 apparently unable to come to terms with his abuse problems until his instant arrest voluntarily committed himself to the Renaissance Project in January 1987 he no longer denies that he has a problem and is apparently taking some action to deal with his drug abuse problem”.

Faced with the specter of a mandatory minimum sentence of three years to life for the top count of the indictment with no leeway for the consideration of mitigating factors, which did not fit the characteristics of the crime involved or the defendant, this Court, defense counsel and the district attorney’s office have conducted plea discussions over the past eight months. During this time, the defendant has been a full-time participant in a residential drug program–“The Renaissance Project”–supported by the New York State Division of Substance Abuse Services. These conferences sought to arrive at an agreement which would circumvent the harsh mandatory minimum sentence of three years to life. The district attorney’s office initially offered to dismiss the top A-II felony count upon the defendant being willing to plead guilty to a B Felony, which required an indeterminant jail sentence of one to three years.

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The Drug Enforcement Task Force initiated an investigation into an organization in Brooklyn that was purportedly selling a brand name of heroin called “Raw”. As a result of that investigation, the defendant was convicted, after trial, of selling narcotics to an undercover police officer. The detective testified that on May 17, 1988, he and a confidential informant went to 31 Patchen Avenue in Brooklyn, where they met with the defendant for the purpose of arranging a purchase of five packages of heroin. After telephoning his connection, the defendant told the detective that the heroin would be arriving shortly. A man thereafter arrived on a motorcycle with the packages and he and the detective agreed to a purchase price of $4000. After the defendant complained, however, that he was being cut out of the deal, the man raised the price to $4700. The detective gave the man the $4700 from which $700 was given to the defendant.

After the informant contacted the defendant by beeper, he and the detective agreed to another sale. The defendant then contacted his connection, who thereafter arrived with a brown paper bag filled with 500 glassine envelopes, which he gave to the criminal defendant. handed over $4700 to the defendant in exchange for the bags. Although Joseph The detective attempted to deal directly with the man who brought the narcotics, the man refused to give him his beeper number. Instead, he told the detective that any dealings would have to go through the defendant.

They then returned to 31 Patchen Avenue where another man and the defendant got into the confidential informant’s car. The detective and the confidential informant, then followed the other man and the defendant to Crescent and Fulton Streets, and then to 2958 Atlantic Avenue, which was a radio car repair shop. Once at this location, the defendant directed the detective inside. The man then entered the shop while the defendant remained outside. The man told the detective to get the money ready. When he returned to the shop, the man dropped the five paper bags which later were determined to contain 485 glassine envelopes of the drug heroin, to the floor. The detective knelt down to pick them up and, while still on the ground, handed up the money. The defendant, who had entered the shop, grabbed the money from the detective, counted it and handed it over to the man.

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In this drug offense case, defendant was found in his apartment with 6¼ grams of heroin about twenty to thirty minutes after a package containing 13 grams of heroin was delivered by mail to his apartment. Customs and postal inspectors had discovered the heroin in the package when it had arrived in the country at San Francisco. The package was mailed from Thailand and addressed to defendant’s residence in Daytona Beach, Florida. The postal authorities arranged a controlled delivery of the package to defendant’s residence.

A Heroin Possession Lawyer said that, about twenty to thirty minutes after this controlled delivery had taken place, four officials, one a postal inspector, and another a customs agent, and the other two, Daytona Beach police detectives, entered defendant’s apartment under a valid search warrant. They found defendant in a bedroom with 6¼ grams of heroin on a coffee table in front of him. They conducted a search to find the remaining heroin. During this search, they found thirty packets of heroin, each wrapped in aluminum foil and containing a mixture which included approximately one milligram of heroin, in a drawer of a dresser in a bedroom across the hall from the room where defendant had been found. It was established at trial that these “dime bags” small packets wrapped in aluminum foil containing about one milligram of heroin are commonly used in passing heroin on the streets. The authorities also found some butts of marijuana cigarettes in the same bedroom drawer. While the authorities were searching the apartment, defendant remarked to them, referring to the thirty “dime bags”, “I bet you didn’t think I could package it up that quick”.

A Lawyer said that, the indictment charged possession with intent to distribute only the 6¼ grams found on the coffee table. The Government relied upon the 30 “dime bags” to prove that defendant had the requisite intent to distribute. Its theory was that the heroin found in packages suitable for street distribution indicated that defendant was a dealer in heroin; that he had received the 13-gram package delivered in the mail for the purpose of selling or distributing most or all of the 13-gram quantity; and that he therefore intended to distribute the 6¼ gram quantity found on the coffee table.

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In this criminal law case, a petition was filed against respondent alleging that he is a juvenile delinquent as defined by Family Court. According to the petition, the respondent committed acts which were he an adult would constitute the crime of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree, and Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree. In addition, the petition alleged that he violated Penal Law which makes illegal the possession of certain weapons by a person less than 16 years of age.

Respondent first appeared before the Court in April 2010 and he was released to the custody of his mother at the conclusion of the initial appearance. In connection with respondent’s release to his mother, the Court directed that respondent attend an “alternative to detention program” and that he observe a 6:00 P.M. curfew. Thereafter, the Presentment Agency (i.e., the prosecutor) filed an application to remove respondent from the alternatives to detention program because he had been arrested for Attempted Burglary in the Second Degree, he had missed 40 days of school during the 2009-2010 school year, and had been suspended from school twice in 2009. A judge of the court modified the order and directed that the respondent be detained by the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice pending further proceedings upon the petition.

A rep said that, respondent was found to be a juvenile delinquent by the Family Court, and who was thereafter placed under the supervision of the New York City Department of Probation. He was placed on probation under specific conditions which included participation in a community based “alternative to placement” program for adjudicated juvenile delinquents administered by the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (“ACS”). This community based “alternative to placement” program, known as the “Juvenile Justice Initiative” (“JJI”), was created to provide services to adjudicated juvenile delinquents who might otherwise have been placed in an institutional setting based, in part, upon recommendations provided made to the Family Court by the New York City Department of Probation and a Psychologist on the staff of the Family Court Mental Health Services Clinic.

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