drugcrimedefender

New Federal Drug Cases

From the Bangor Daily News:

BANGOR, Maine — A New Brunswick man has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison on drug charges.

Jamie Kitchen, 37, whose hometown is not listed in court documents, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to 50 months in prison and three years of supervised release after he completes his sentence.

. . .

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2006 but was not arrested until February 2007 when he attempted to cross the border in Calais.

Kitchen, while still in handcuffs at the Milltown border crossing station, bolted for the bridge to Canada. He was apprehended, according to court documents, when he tripped and fell about 10 feet short of the border.

. . .

The following men have been sentenced in connection with Kitchen’s drug activities:

• Wayne Dow, 40, of Tower Hill, New Brunswick, to 21 months, three years supervised release in June 2005 after pleading guilty.
• Jon Dow, 26, of Princeton to one year and one day in prison for the importation of oxycodone, three years of supervised release and a $500 fine in October 2005 after pleading guilty.
• Jerry McPhail, 37, of Princeton to 37 months, three years of supervised release and a fine of $2,700 in July 2005 after being convicted by a jury.
• Travis Nicholson, 35, of Princeton to 32 months, three years of supervised release in September 2005 after pleading guilty.
• John Gagner, 29, of Princeton to 19 months, three years of supervised release and a $1,000 fine in January 2006 after pleading guilty.

All six men faced up to 20 years in federal prison and fines of up to $1 million.

Crack Disparaties Before the High Court

Via ScotusBlog an interesting post on a crack cocaine sentencing case heading to the Supremes:

UPDATE Tuesday a.m. The U.S. Sentencing Commission's latest report to Congress on cocaine sentencing can be found at the Commission's website, under "Report to Congress -- Federal Cocaine Sentencing Policy." It recommends that Congress alter the 100-to-1 crack-to-powder ratio, but, in the meantime, proposes a reduction in the Sentencing Guideline range for cocaine offenses. That change in range will take effect Nov. 1 unless Congress objects. (The report is 202 pages long.)

. . .

Here is an example of how the 100-to-1 ratio works: an individual who deals five grams of crack cocaine faces the same sentence as a defendant who deals 500 grams of powder cocaine under the Guidelines.

On Monday, the Court -- long reluctant to review the 100-1 crack-to-powder ratio -- opted to grant review of a clear-cut test case on the issue. It is Kimbrough v. U.S. (docket 06-6330). The diligent efforts of a federal public defender in Alexandria, VA. -- Michael S. Nachmanoff -- appeared to have helped persuade the Court that the time had come to take on the question.

Hat Tip to Sentencing Law & Policy who has excellent commentary as usual.

Meth Sentence in Bangor Federal Court

We don't get a lot of meth use up here (that comes through the system anyway). 

From the Bangor Daily News:

BANGOR, Maine — A Houlton man was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to more than three years in federal prison for importing nearly 100 methamphetamine pills.

Stephane Desrosiers, 35, also was sentenced to three years of supervised release after he completes his 37-month prison term.

. . .

A Canadian citizen with permanent residency status, Desrosiers is expected to be deported when he is released.

Desrosiers was arrested in March at the Houlton border crossing after Border Protection officers found a recloseable plastic bag with 98½ methamphetamine pills in the pocket of his jacket.

Jail Consolidation in Maine

This will significantly affect family visitation for people in the smaller counties.  It will also make visiting pretrial detainees in federal cases much tougher as the US Marshalls already shift them all over the state.

From the Bangor Daily News:

The governor would have the state take over Maine’s 15 county jails, close four — in Oxford, Franklin, Piscataquis and Waldo counties — and consolidate administration. As with Baldacci’s school-district administration consolidation, more savings would come through greater efficiencies in central offices, through purchases — in the jails’ case, medical costs and pharmaceutical contracts are big — and more effective use of bed space throughout the system.

For instance, while jails in Knox or Penobscot counties are overcrowded, those in Cumberland and York are operating under capacity. Yet because counties set their own rates, according to Corrections Commissioner Martin Magnusson, York might have a per-day cost of $45 per prisoner but charge $105. That’s an added tax burden on the sending county.

Maine county jails have additional burdens that raise costs but need to be met: better service for the mentally ill, treatment for substance abuse, and services for women. Over the last three years, county jail budgets have cumulatively risen more than 12 percent annually, as the state prison costs have risen at less than half that rate. New county jail construction — even as some jails have enough space —will keep that rate high.

Pelham Cocaine Bust

From the Manchester Union-Leader:

A two-month investigation into local drug trafficking paid off big Wednesday night when police arrested eight people while observing a alleged crack cocaine manufacturing operation on Hobbs Road.

Police said Priscilla Champagne, 50, of Pelham has been running a large cocaine and crack manufacturing and distribution operation out of her home at 14 Hobbs Road.

. . .

Although a number of customers Champagne was allegedly supplying can't be known precisely, Fisher said police consider her to be an uncommonly large supplier in the border town that receives most traffic from Lowell and Dracut, Mass.

. . .

Fisher said police began investigating Champagne following information gathered through other drug investigations in town.

UPDATE:  In response to Charles's comment below I have redacted (more) portions of the article in keeping with the fair use doctrine.  I am a believer in free enterprise and the right to protect one's intellectual property.  Feel free to read the whole article at the Manchester Union-Leader.

Teens Detail Drug Use Online

From USA Today:

Ashley Duffy, 18, knew her parents wouldn't tap into her online journal so she wrote freely about her drug use. She says she used the Internet to contact her dealer and connect at parties with people who had drugs.

"Kids are really open about it. I see posts from other people describing a night on acid or whatever," says Duffy of West Chester, Pa., who underwent treatment and says she has been drug-free for 16 months. "I think they think their parents are clueless. And I guess they are."

A study being released today of more than 10 million online messages written by teens in the past year shows they regularly chat about drinking alcohol, smoking pot, partying and hooking up. The Caron Treatment Centers, a non-profit program in Wernersville, Pa., that also funds research into drug addiction, commissioned the study by Nielsen BuzzMetrics.

Nielson analysts used a computer program to search blogs, public chat rooms, messages boards and other places that attract teens. About 2% of the posts specifically mentioned drugs or alcohol.

The study offers insight into what teens talk about online and classifies the messages into common themes. Many of the teens who posted messages about drugs or alcohol often traded information about using illicit substances without getting hurt or caught. Some teens debated drug legalization and the drinking age. Other teens recounted their partying experiences, including sexual liaisons while drunk or high, the study says.. . .

Lucky O'Donnell, 19, of New York, used to refer to cocaine as "yay" or "cocoa" and heroin as "skag" when he posted messages on friends' sites on MySpace.

O'Donnell, who says he has been drug-free since Dec. 12, 2005, had used the Internet to research how much cocaine he could carry without risking arrest for drug dealing and how much he could take — and in what combinations with other drugs — without getting sick.

He says his research landed him in the intensive care unit just before his 17th birthday. He says his mother found him convulsing on the floor after he had combined cocaine with Tylenol PM and alcohol.

"One site said it was fine, one site said it wasn't," O'Donnell says. "I wasn't able to differentiate the information. You want to believe everything you read."

. . .

Janice Styer, an addiction counselor at Caron, says the treatment center now urges parents to monitor their teens' Web surfing and to keep the computer in a family room. "Five years ago, we weren't even thinking about this," Styer says.

. . .

The study's analysis of alcohol messages found that teens mentioned hooking up and having sex while drunk, being drunk at parties, getting help for a friend who drinks too much and drinking until getting sick. The most popular drinks mentioned in the messages were beer and vodka.

In a sample message included with the study, one unnamed teen wrote: "I've had alcohol once or twice (once to the point of being drunk) and sex is waaaaay better."

In postings about marijuana, teens asked about possible addiction and whether it alleviated depression, the study shows. Teens also shared stories about cutting class, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and mutilating themselves while getting high.

Another message from an unnamed teen included in the study asked about marijuana: "Has anyone ever passed out from smoking weed? I was at the beach and I just collapsed and I don't remember that happening."

In posts about other drugs, teens sought or offered information on Ecstasy, hallucinogenic mushrooms, LSD and heroin. They talked about experimentation with drugs and sought advice on taking drugs safely.

An unnamed teen in one post included in the study asked for information about DXM, a drug found in over-the-counter cough syrup:

"I tried DXM for the first time on Saturday (200mg) and it was interesting. Can I try it again … say tomorrow … or should I wait longer. I read somewhere you should give DXM at least a week until you try it again. Anyone know?"

New Methadone Policy for Jails

From the Bangor Daily News:

MACHIAS — They arrive at the Washington County Jail dependent on methadone.

In the past, inmates housed at the jail had to be detoxed while doing their time.

. . .

Now, the Sheriff’s Department has come up with a proposed policy based on one out of the Penobscot County Jail.

If approved, the new policy would allow inmates to continue with their methadone treatment for at least 14 days and the cost would be borne either by the inmate or by MaineCare.

Methadone is a synthetic opiate that blocks the effects of heroin and other opiates. A major opiate problem Down East is the prescription drug OxyContin, which is diverted for sale on the street.

The policy has to be approved by the county jail’s health officer, Dr. Mark Kaplan of East Machias.

. . .

After 14 days, it’s up to the medical staff whether the inmate is to be kept on methadone or detoxed, Smith said.

Detox does not mean "cold turkey," Smith said. Rather it’s replacing methadone with other drugs to ease their methadone dependency.

"I won’t be able to talk about it exactly, but I know he goes through a procedure and he prescribes three or four medications that they are on. It’s very expensive for us," Smith said.

A Clonidine detox patch, according to county records, costs more than $25 per patch.

In April, 20 patches cost the county $527.30. "So if they can stay on methadone while they are here, that is just less of an expense that the county taxpayer has to absorb," Smith said.

Jail Administrator Capt. Bob Gross said inmates come with a variety of health issues that the county has to take care of.

According to county invoices, which did not show the names of the inmates, the drugs prescribed cover everything from cholesterol medication and sleeping pills to anti-depressant and antipsychotic drugs such as haloperidol, risperidone, paroxetine and quetiapine fumarate. There were also medications such as propoxyphene for pain, as well as heart medication.

Search warrant fails on probable cause, and it was so deficient that the good faith exception did not apply

Via Fourth Amendment.com:

Officers had information from a confidential informant that defendant was manufacturing illegal DVDs in his attic. The information about the premises was the same that could be seen by any passerby. The officers entered without a warrant and went to the attic to conduct a protective sweep. The court found that there was no exigency for the entry and no cause for a protective sweep. On the search warrant that had been issued, the court finds that there was no probable cause for the search warrant--it was nothing more than conclusions. The lack of probable cause was so obvious that the good faith exception did not apply. United States v. Pinder, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40061 (E.D. Va. June 1, 2007):

Drug Related Home Invasion

From the Manchester Union Leader:

MANCHESTER – Marijuana was stolen in a home invasion Tuesday night at a residence in the south end of the city, police said.

At 6:52 p.m., a gunman forced his way into 44 King's Court, in the Brown Avenue and Frontage Road area of the city.

Capt. Richard Valenti said the gunman was chased by two people as he ran into some woods with the drugs.

Police recovered a 9 mm handgun in the woods, apparently dropped by the robber.

Medicinal Pot Research Fight

From the Boston Herald:

ARLINGTON, Va. - A University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor who has waged a nearly six-year fight to convince the government to let him grow marijuana for medical research pressed his case Wednesday outside U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration offices.

    Horticulturist Lyle Craker said he wants to boost research into pot’s potential medicinal benefits.
    "We’ve looked at this as just another medicinal plant that needs to be studied," Craker, who heads the school’s medicinal plant program, said at a news conference Wednesday on the sidewalk outside the DEA offices.
    Craker is awaiting a DEA decision on his case. DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney said in an e-mail statement that it would be "inappropriate" to comment since the matter is pending.
    Earlier this year, a federal administrative law judge recommended to the DEA that it grant Craker’s application to grow marijuana in bulk for use by scientists in Food and Drug Administration-approved research. The nonbinding ruling said the government’s supply was inadequate for medical research. It also concluded Craker’s request was in the "public interest."
    Craker is challenging the government’s monopoly on research marijuana. A lab at the University of Mississippi is the government’s only marijuana growing facility. Craker’s suit claimed government-grown marijuana lacks the potency medical researchers need to make important breakthroughs.
    DEA attorneys have defended the government’s marijuana, saying its Mississippi growing center provides adequate quality and quantity for legitimate researchers across the country.