Superior Court Drug Trafficking Charges Reduced to Possession With Intent to Distribute and Client Avoids Prison by Getting Probation Only

In July of 2018 our client and another individual were in a car driving into a highly trafficked narcotics neighborhood. The vehicle made several suspicious maneuvers that caught the attention of local drug enforcement officers who were conducting surveillance of a particular home. This car eventually parked in front of that home. One of the individuals exits the car and enters the property under investigation. Our client, the driver remains in the vehicle. Several minutes later the police see the other man exit the house with a box in his hands. Our client then gets out of the car and opens the trunk. He places the box in the well where the spare tire should be. The officers witness the entire incident and decide to follow the car. It stops to get gas at which time the officers confront our client. They ask for his permission to open the trunk. He agrees to do so. The officers ask him to open where the spare should be. They see the box and ask the defendant what is in it. He tells them that it is cocaine. In fact it is 21.5 grams of cocaine sufficient for a charge of trafficking under G.L. c. 94C section 32E and a mandatory 2 year state prison sentence. The passenger was also charged. He took a deal in the district court for one year in the house of correction. With our advice, our client chose to fight the case. He was indicted to the Superior Court however we were able to negotiate a plea to a lesser charge, possession with intent under G.L. c. 94C section 31. Moreover, the assistant district attorney agreed to probation only for our client.

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