Posts Tagged ‘Drugs’

If you need an aggressive, experienced criminal defense attorney to represent you on gun and drug charges, contact Norman D. McKellar today at 865-566-0125.

Media-Newswire.com – Press Release Distribution – PR Agency

ATLANTA, GA—LUCIUS T. SOLOMON, III, 31, of Atlanta, Georgia, a police officer with the City of Atlanta Police Department, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on drug and firearm offenses. SOLOMON made his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman this afternoon.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “Any police officer who violates his oath to protect the community and instead takes part in criminal activity should expect the same outcome as a criminal. Corrupt police officers do not stand for justice. They stand for themselves. And the thousands of dedicated law enforcement officers who do their job every day will continue to work to weed out those who act corruptly.”

FBI Atlanta Acting Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Moore said, “It is extremely disheartening when a rogue law enforcement officer disregards his oath of office and chooses to engage in such criminal conduct as is alleged in the indictment of Officer Solomon. The FBI, however, understands the importance of maintaining integrity within the law enforcement community and the value of maintaining the public’s trust and that such acts by the few can often erode that much needed public trust.”

Atlanta Police Department Interim Police Chief George Turner stated, “I was outraged to learn that one of our own officers was engaged in illegal activity of this magnitude. In partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we cooperated fully in investigating and apprehending Officer Solomon. The Atlanta Police Department appreciates the investigation conducted by the FBI and making this indictment. This department will not tolerate any misconduct or illegal behavior by our sworn officers. APD will continue to sponsor and support any investigative initiatives that identify police officers who engage in illegal activity. This indictment should serve as a reminder to everyone including police officers that no one is above the law.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the indictment and evidence presented in court today: On three separate occasions-October 30 and December 9, 2009, and January 23, 2010-SOLOMON attempted to aid and abet drug deals involving at least five kilograms of cocaine. In each instance, he knowingly possessed a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime. SOLOMON is also charged with attempting to broker a cocaine deal on or about March 9, 2010. At his initial appearance, prosecutors told the Magistrate Judge that SOLOMON allegedly provided protection for individuals he believed to be drug dealers and on March 9, 2010, he attempted to broker a five-kilo cocaine deal on behalf of individuals he believed to be drug dealers but in fact were undercover FBI agents. A bond hearing for SOLOMON has been set before Judge Baverman at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, March 26, 2010.

67 people were arrested in connection with a cockfighting site in north Georgia, according to The Chattanooga Times-Free Press.  The DEA had been monitoring the location for months in hopes of gathering evidence of drug transactions and brought a wide range of charges.  The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reports that drug sales and cockfighting often have a strong correlation.

If you or a loved one has been charged with gambling, drug possession, or animal cruelty, call the criminal defense attorneys at The McKellar Law Firm for your FREE  Consultation, at (865) 566-0125.

The Federal Government has been increasing its attention on so-called “pill mills,” and the latest to fill the sting of the Government’s efforts is American Pain in Florida.  Agents have raided the offices of American Pain and forfeiture proceedings have begun against the owner of the clinic. Unfortunately for the principals of American Pain, these Government actions are likely only the first of unpleasant moves that they can expect in the near future.

Raided Lake Worth pain clinic handed out 2 million pills in a year – Broward – MiamiHerald.com

The federal government has called American Pain a “pill mill.” But the Lake Worth pain clinic operated more like a factory, churning through 250 patients a day, paying doctors as much as $44,000 a week, and distributing more than two million painkillers in a single year.

Those details are contained in a forfeiture lawsuit the U.S. attorney’s office filed this week seeking to seize three houses from American Pain’s owner, Christopher George. The suit was filed Wednesday, the same day federal agents and local sheriff’s deputies raided American Pain and two other clinics operated by George’s twin brother, Jeffrey.

American Pain is only one of as many as 200 loosely regulated pain clinics now operating in South Florida, making the region the chief supplier of black-market pills for much of the eastern United States. The explosion of clinics — and the coinciding spike in prescription overdose deaths in the state — has prompted lawmakers and law enforcement to begin cracking down on the industry.

In the suit, prosecutors said George has been under investigation on suspicion of drug trafficking and money laundering for 18 months. Investigators said George tried to conceal his role as American Pain’s owner by listing his mother and girlfriend as “straw owners” on corporate records. But George, 29, of Royal Palm Beach, has not been charged with any crimes.

The suit describes American Pain as a massive — and massively lucrative — enterprise, attracting 250 patients a day from Kentucky, Ohio and South Carolina to buy painkillers. Prosecutors described the patients as mules in a drug-running circuit throughout the South: Out-of-state couriers could buy one pill of the painkiller oxycodone at American Pain for $5, and resell the narcotics in their home states for as much as $80 a pill, the suit says.

Investigators tracked 147 cash deposits totaling more than $14 million that flowed through American Pain’s bank accounts in 2009 alone. A George associate told an undercover agent that George was trying to launder as much as $40 million in assets, the suit says.

Neither George nor his lawyer, James Eisenberg, could be reached for comment Thursday. But Eisenberg previously has said that the George brothers broke no laws while running their businesses.

The pain-clinic business was also generous to the five doctors who worked at American Pain: Dr. Cynthia Cadet of Fort Lauderdale; Dr. Jacob Dreszer of Hollywood; Dr. Roni Dreszer of Hollywood; Dr. Michael Aruta of Boca Raton; and Dr. Beau Boshers of Palm Beach Gardens. Combined, they received $5.1 million in payments last year for providing exams and writing prescriptions at the clinic, prosecutors say.

These five doctors ordered more than 2.1 million oxycodone pills in 2009 through American Pain, prosecutors say. All five physicians are among the top 20 doctors who dispensed the most oxycodone in the United States last year, the suit says, citing DEA data.

Prosecutors said they were reviewing allegations that the doctors were paid based on the number of patients they saw. The doctors were not paid employees of the clinic, but were paid as independent contractors, the suit says.

None of the five doctors has ever been disciplined by the state medical board, records show. No doctor would comment for this story.

“There’s an ongoing investigation. I can’t answer those questions,” Boshers told The Miami Herald on Thursday. According to the government’s lawsuit, he ordered 439,599 oxycodone pills in 2009 through American Pain, which paid him $1.2 million.

I’ll give this lady credit for thinking quickly, but she wasn’t able to fool an Alcoa policeman…

News from The Associated Press

East Tennessee police said a Knoxville woman who was later arrested for cocaine possession initially told an officer that she had been eating a powdered doughnut. The Maryville Daily Times reported that a 21-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday and charged with possession of a Schedule II substance with intent to sell or deliver. She was also cited for driving on a suspended driver’s license, driving without proof of insurance, failure to maintain her lane of traffic and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to an Alcoa police report, a field test on the substance indicated that the white powder she put in her mouth as an officer approached the car was cocaine, not a sugary pastry.

She was being held in the Blount County Jail on a $12,250 bond pending a court hearing on Monday.

If you are ever accused of having “white powder,” please contact criminal defense lawyer Norman D. McKellar today at 865-566-0125 for a free consultation.