Felony Charges of Receiving Stolen Property Over $1,200 Dismissed Following Successful Motion to Suppress

The defendant is an entrepreneur involved in several lucrative businesses. One of these businesses involves the purchase and resale of commercial fencing. The defendant would buy surplus fencing on the internet or from wholesalers, store them and resell at opportune times depending on market demand. A competitor was searching the internet for similar products. He came across the defendant’s listing and made false and unsubstantiated claims that the fencing the defendant was selling was his and had been stolen from him. Unscrupulous police officers seized this opportunity to obtain a search warrant for the defendant’s property. Naturally the fencing was on the property as advertised and it was seized. We successfully argued a motion to suppress the unlawful search. Today the case came before a judge who agreed that without the fencing the district attorney could not prosecute the defendant for these charges, receiving stolen property in excess of $1,200.00 in violation of G.L. c. 266 section 60. As a result our motion to dismiss was allowed.

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