Numerous drug cases across Florida have potentially been compromised due to an investigation involving a former analyst for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Pensacola lab who authorities have accused of tampering with evidence. Apparently the former analyst...
Tampa Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer
Drug Offenses
Can you face the death penalty for a drug charge?
Federal officials have indicted 27 people in a drug conspiracy case. Unfortunately for these individuals, drug conspiracy is not the only charge they face. The conspiracy case also involves homicide, money laundering and sale of heroin, crack and more than 650 pounds...
New Florida crime lab scandal could affect hundreds of cases
In recent years, state-funded and privately run crime labs all over the nation have come under fire due to numerous scandals. The decision whether to convict or set a person accused of criminal wrongdoing free often turns on a piece or pieces of evidence analyzed by a...
Supreme Court: Drugs Must Cause Death for Dealer to Be Convicted
A conviction for drug distribution under the federal Controlled Substances Act can carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. "If death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance," however, the mandatory minimum sentence doubles to...
Mandatory Minimum Sentences: No Longer Seen as a Positive Solution
Mandatory minimum sentences were once created as a "one-size-fits-all" solution for sentencing disparities. However, these sentences have recently been recognized as coming up short of these expectations. This recognition arises from reasons such as the fairness of...
Clearwater Man Gets 11 Years in Federal Crack Cocaine Case
When an individual is accused of a drug offense in Florida, he or she may be charged at the state or federal level. While Florida law is very tough on drug offenders, a conviction for a drug charge under federal law can result in much harsher consequences. Federal...
Study: No Check on Feds’ Sentencing Power With Mandatory Minimums
In the federal criminal justice system some 97 percent of all defendants plead guilty -- but are they, really? A recent study by Human Rights Watch certainly casts some doubt in federal drug cases.While many defendants undoubtedly were involved in some drug activity,...
Convictions for Cultivation of Cannabis and Trafficking in Cannabis Violated Double Jeopardy Principles
In Gonzalez v. State, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D2212a (Fla. 4th DCA 2013), Gonzalez pled guilty to cultivation of cannabis for count one and trafficking in cannabis over twenty-five pounds for count two. Gonzalez was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to sixty months in prison...
Attorney General’s ABA Speech on Drug Charges Mandatory Minimums
In a major speech on drug charges and mandatory minimums to the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association on August 12, 2013, United States Attorney General Eric Holder amplified that message by stating that "too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too...
Use of Drug Charges Mandatory Minimums Under 21 USC Section 851
The Kupa decision by District Judge John Gleeson of the E.D.N.Y. is an amazing and memorable indictment of the "illegitimate" and deeply entrenched practice of federal prosecutors who use the sentencing enhancements, known as mandatory minimums, authorized by 21...

