Category Archives: Drug Crimes
Get Your Federal Drug Sentence Reduced: New Retroactive Reduction of Federal Sentences
Last week, people serving time behind bars for federal drug crimes got some great news. The agency in charge of federal sentencing changed its policy. Now, thousands of prisoners will be able to get an early release from federal prisons around the country. People who are already serving time on federal drug convictions may be…
Drug Free Zones in Texas: Serious Issue for Defendants Arrested for Drug Crimes
If you have to be arrested for drug possession in Texas, then try and make sure you’re not busted in a designated “Drug Free Zone.” Why? If you are caught with illegal drugs by law enforcement in a Drug Free Zone, then you’re going to be facing more serious and severe sentencing and more time…
TOP 10 THINGS TO KNOW WHEN DEFENDING TEXAS CHARGES OF MANUFACTURE OR DELIVERY OF AN ILLEGAL SUBSTANCE
Charged With Manufacture or Delivery of an Illegal Substance? 10 Things Defendants Need to Know As a Texas Board Certified Criminal Defense lawyer who has defended individuals facing drug crime charges throughout the State of Texas for over 20 years, I have come to believe that both criminal lawyers and their clients would be better…
TOP 10 DEFENSE MISTAKES IN FEDERAL CONSPIRACY CASES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
Tips on Defending Against Federal Conspiracy Charges by an Experienced Criminal Defense Lawyer As a Texas Board Certified Criminal Lawyer, I have practiced criminal law exclusively for over twenty years in the State of Texas, where federal prosecutions are almost as commonplace as state and local charges. For example, 2 of the top 5 federal…
Lessons of The Gas Pipe Bust: Traffic Stop Leads to Major Synthetic Marijuana Bust and Big Federal Forfeiture Grab
It all began with a simple traffic stop back on December 4, 2013. That’s when a Denton County Deputy Sheriff pulled over a Ford pickup truck and asked the driver if he could search the vehicle. The driver said okay, and the Deputy Sheriff discovered stuff used to grow marijuana, as well as marijuana residue…
Justice Department Comments (34 Pages) to the Proposed Amendments to Federal Sentencing Guidelines Added to Michael Lowe Digital Library
Comments to Proposed Amendments to Federal Sentencing Guidelines by the Justice Department in March 2014
Will The Justice Department Go After Marijuana Grow Operations Using Environmental Laws?
Proposed Increase to Sentencing Guidelines for Marijuana Grow Operations’ Environmental Crimes Supported by DOJ Last week, we discussed the recent statement made by Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the proposed changes to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines proposed by the United States Sentencing Commission. In his appearance before the Commission, the head of the Justice Department…
Major Changes to Federal Drug Crime Sentencing Guidelines Underway: DOJ’s Holder Helps Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers Get Lower Sentences for Drug Defendants
In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (”ADAA”) which formed a two level (aka two-tiered) formula for use in federal sentencing of certain kinds of drug traffickers. This was the first federal legislation passed as part of the “War on Drugs” (there were others, e.g., the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010). In the ADAA,…
Philip Seymour Hoffman Killed Himself: Predicting the Arrest and Conviction of the Drug Dealers Who Sold Hoffman the Heroin
Philip Seymour Hoffman killed himself. Hoffman became addicted to a substance knowing that he could die using it. We know from the continuing, extensive, international news coverage of Hoffman’s death on Super Bowl Sunday that the talented actor first used heroin in his early 20s and after avoiding the drug for over 20 years, Hoffman…
Dog Sniffing Searches and the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: Have Your Privacy Rights Against Unreasonable Search and Seizure Gone to the Dogs in Texas?
Dogs are great, and no one is going to challenge that dogs have the ability to hear and to smell things that human beings cannot. Dogs, after all, have the ability to hear sounds at a much larger frequency range than humans — from 67 Hz to 45 kHz (humans max out at 23 kHz)….
