FEderal drug cases
General
Federal drug cases are usually well-investigated and the charges entail significant sentences, including mandatory minimum sentences. It is imperative to have an attorney involved at the federal level because the consequences can be devastating
The Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) is the statute that controls US drug policy. Federal drug cases are the second-highest type of crime that the federal government charges (violent crime being first).
types of federal drug cases
Interdictions
Interdiction is the attempt by law enforcement to prevent drugs from reaching their destination. The traffic stop is the most straight-forward example. However, there are policies and procedures implemented at airports, ports, train stations, buses, highways, and post-offices to identify and interdict drugs. The purpose is to adversely impact drug organizations by disrupting the supply-chain—this also increases the cost of drug which should discourage drug use.
Interdiction cases often present several defenses. This is because they are dynamic—the agents are responding to an active situation, such as seeing a suspicious package, and need to respond.
The cases can range from an arrest of the smuggler or a controlled delivery of the package to a destination in order to make an arrest. As always, the agents will attempt to flip those arrested in order to move up the chain and dismantle the organization.
Wiretap Investigations
A court-authorized wiretap is the essential tool the federal government uses to make conspiracy cases against the organizers of drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). More traditional investigation techniques have their limits when attempting to take down the leaders of drug organizations because they rarely touch the drugs—so the federal government needs their voices on tape to prove their involvement.
A federal judge must approve a wiretap application by federal prosecutors, who must establish probable cause in the affidavit. Significant resources are dedicated to wiretap investigations, the average cost of a wiretap in 2018 was $67,926.
Wiretap drug cases involve significant discovery, consisting thousands of pages and hours of recordings.
Additionally, the government will also hire forensic narcotics experts to testify about what the language in the recordings means.
Federally-Adopted State Cases
Federal prosecutors will sometimes decide to take a case from state court and charge it federally. The state prosecutors will drop the case in state court and the federal prosecutors will indict the case in federal court.
The federal government will adopt the case to take advantage of the more severe sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums in federal court. If the defendant has a significant criminal history, or, the amount of drugs is significant, the federal government will take the case.
Before the federal government adopts the case, they will thoroughly review it to feel confident they can win.
Types of evidence in federal drug cases
Below are some of the tools and types of evidence that are used in federal drug cases:
1) Confidential Informants (CIs)
A CI is an individual who provides information to law enforcement regarding criminal activity. It could be information on another person or criminal enterprise. They may be directly involved in the criminal activity with the person or enterprise. They are typically paid by the government.
To retain their value, they are authorized to conduct illegal activity—such as buying or selling drugs—within a defined scope set by the FBI. If they exceed it, they could be prosecuted.
Their identities are not usually revealed and they do not testify. Instead, their information is used to explore new leads.
2) Cooperating Witnesses (CWs)
CWs are different to CIs in that they typically have a written agreement with the prosecutors to testify against other members of the organization in exchange for a sentencing break. Some CWs agree before other members are indicted whilst others can agree after the indictment—when they have seen the evidence against them and the accompanying sentences.
3) Undercover Agents
Undercover Agents are law enforcement agents posing as someone engaged in criminal activity. They will meet with potential targets of the investigation to discuss future crime. The meetings and phone calls are usually recorded. The agent’s testimony and recordings usually provide direct evidence of crime and is powerful evidence.
A limitation on what Undercover Agents can do is the entrapment doctrine. The Supreme Court has held that “[g]overnment agents may not originate a criminal design, implant in an innocent person’s mind the disposition to commit a criminal act, and hen induce commission of the crime so that the [g]overnment may prosecute.”
4) Surveillance
Surveillance is the covert observation of people, places, and vehicles to uncover criminal activity. Techniques range from physical observation to electronic monitoring of phones.
Fixed surveillance, or a stakeout, is observing people and places from a distance.
Stationary technical surveillance is placing technical equipment in a car which is parked somewhere and monitor the target area.
Electronic monitoring is placing wiretaps to intercept electronic or telephone communications.
GPS tracking devices is placing a tracker on a car to observe and follow its location.
5) Search Warrants
Search warrants are court-authorized documents which give the government to permission to search a place. There are several types of warrants that give the government different rights and responsibilities when executing the search warrant. For example, most search warrants require that the agents knock and announce themselves whereas others do not require it. Moreover, there are a also Delayed Notice Warrant—also known as sneak and peak warrants where the government can search without telling you until a later date.
What Ellis Legal can do for you?
Ellis Legal has experience prosecuting and defending narcotics cases. The first step is to obtain and review all the government documents to find weaknesses and challenge them in court. Tools such as motions to suppress can result in outright dismissal of cases or at least reducing the amount of drugs you are going to be on the hook for.
If you have a federal narcotics case and need to discuss, we offer a free consultation