Arrested outside my apartment by undercovers

C

Cyrus

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 20, 2005
Messages
713
As the title says, I was arrested outside of my apartment on posession charges by undercover police officers.

Now, it was odd to me, and really surprising that these men came outside and approached me in the first place. I'm going to be honest in this to be able to get the most concise advice I can.

First, I think I was set up; I had someone referred to me, an acquaintance of whom someone I thought was a friend hit me up, asking if I could find him some adderall. I had discussed possible prices with him (as he had asked questions like how much? etc etc) but to be clear I had none of these things on me and had no intent to sell him anything; if he had asked for them I would have given him some other dudes number.

At the time, I was carrying my friends tramadol prescription as he had asked me to pick them up from his previous residence and bring them to his new place. He's got a broken leg and needs to stay off it. So I agreed, this is my good friend of a year now and I've even signed for some of his prescriptions at the pharmacy across the street from where I live. When I was arrested, they searched me because they saw something fall out of my pocket and I picked it up. It happened to be my friend's pill bottle, with his name and address on it; with the chemical it contained (tramadol 50mg's) and the quantity there of. There was supposed to be 25 in there, but it was one of his prescriptions he was still using and was ordered to use by his doctor. There were only six, so the police questioned me as to why there was six in the bottle, I told him it was obviously because my friend had been taking them for his leg pain. I was not selling the chemicals or taking them myself.

I guess my questions are, was I set up? Is there a significant amount of evidence to fully convict me of the felony charges of posession of a dangerous drug w/o prescription and posession of a controlled substance? If I were to plead not guilty, and could prove that my friend had given me permission to take them from his previous residence and bring them to his new one if the charges would be lessened or dismissed? I've met with a criminal defense lawyer and he thinks it's a 'stupid' case. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, and have never had a record before and certainly can't afford a felony at any cost!
 
I hate it when people try to "cover their tracks" and pitch their story on Legal Discussion.

It's cool man.

You were probably taking the Tramadol, correct? (otherwise why would you be posting on BL). And you probably were getting ready to middleman some Adderall too I bet.

Not much you can do in this case but prove you had no Adderall in your residence (then it's juts conspiracy to sell) and get your 'buddy' with the Tramadol to back you up.
 
So what exactly have you been charged with?

Discussing prices with someone and giving them the promise of hooking them up, even if you have no actual plan to do so is considered conspiracy/intent to distribute.. or a similar charge depending on jurisdiction, location, prosecutor, ect. Likely to be a felony. That will be a hard one to beat if there is some form of evidence.

If your telling the truth about the reason for possessing the tramadol, I'd do everything in my power to have the friend intervene and vouch that you were only picking up his prescription as a favor to him. If that isn't possible, or you had them for other reasons I'd say you're up the creek on that.

Whatever you do, make sure you have a competent attorney. And if you can't beat the charges, ask if there is a drug court possibility to help keep any felonies off your record.
 
If you were set up and the Tramadol was discussed for a deal then I don't believe there is anything you can do to fight the charges. If your story can be verified then you might not have anything to worry about. How did they find out that you had drugs on you? did they have probable cause, did you allow them to search you?
 
wungchow said:
I hate it when people try to "cover their tracks" and pitch their story on Legal Discussion.

It's cool man.

You were probably taking the Tramadol, correct? (otherwise why would you be posting on BL). And you probably were getting ready to middleman some Adderall too I bet.

Not much you can do in this case but prove you had no Adderall in your residence (then it's juts conspiracy to sell) and get your 'buddy' with the Tramadol to back you up.
Click to expand...

I hate it when people with no understanding of the law attempt to give legal advice. A defendant in a criminal case never has the burden to prove anything as it relates to guilt or innocence.

Delivering a prescription to a person that is physically incapacitated does not necessarily mean that a crime has been committed. Prescription drugs are not illegal, per se and there could be issues satisfying the knowledge element of the crime.
 
Tramadol is not federally schedueled in the U.S. but is under schd 4 and/or 5 in a few states. I really don't see how you can be charged if it is not in your state and if it is I dought it would be a felony if you are charged.
 
Cyrus said:
I had someone referred to me, an acquaintance of whom someone I thought was a friend hit me up, asking if I could find him some adderall. I had discussed possible prices with him (as he had asked questions like how much? etc etc) but to be clear I had none of these things on me and had no intent to sell him anything; if he had asked for them I would have given him some other dudes number.
Click to expand...


If you had no intent to sell him anything then why are you discussing sale prices with him or leading him on ? You should have just told him if he needed it that badly to go to his doctor, if your not a dealer then dont make deal arrangments especially to junkies who are going to abuse and misuse medication, if something went wrong with their health do you really want to live with yourself knowing you were responsible for it ?

I dont mean to preach as I used to think I was doing people favors by helping them acquire drugs too but a single overdose that left me disabled made me realize its all posion and if people want to poison themselves thats their choice but you shouldnt have anyone elses burden on your shoulders, each to their own.
 
true true, i'm sure most people on here have had people ask them questions like "oh well how much is it?" etcetera. nothing like " i will give you this many for this amount of money"

but like a general thing saying, idk, three dollars a piece? a ballpark estimate of what street pills usually go for. altered, i understand what you mean by that and i have heard it before but i guess i assume if someone is asking me for something that they've had it before or something. you know what they say about assuming, though. and i appreciate your input. the trouble this could have -possibly- put me in gives me solid perspective on what to do and what not to do.

my friend who has the tramadol prescription already plans to vouch for me, we both went and spoke with my criminal defense lawyer and he thinks he might be able to get it dismissed.

i saw the same undercover that arrested me, outside my apartment again, but it seems he was scoping out someone elses apartment. OI! I feel like a casualty of the drug war -_- and kind of dumb to be paranoid enough to think that they were after me.

but then again maybe they were.... >_>

but probably not when i think about it. basically when i reached for my keys they saw the pill bottle fall out of my pocket and pop me- on my charges they listed "no hit" so i guess they didnt get what they were looking for.
 
Thought I would share this recent update I received:

McCoy v. State ,(Fla.App. 1 Dist.)

Criminal Justice - Prescription defense is available to innocent possessor of another person's prescribed drugs.

A prescription defense is available to an innocent possessor of another person's prescribed drugs. The innocent possessor must have a legally recognized reason for the possession, such as an agency relationship with the other person. The issue was one of first impression in Florida.
 
forgotten said:
I hate it when people with no understanding of the law attempt to give legal advice. A defendant in a criminal case never has the burden to prove anything as it relates to guilt or innocence.

Delivering a prescription to a person that is physically incapacitated does not necessarily mean that a crime has been committed. Prescription drugs are not illegal, per se and there could be issues satisfying the knowledge element of the crime.
Click to expand...

I agree with this comment. Seek advice from a Public Defender or Lawyer.
 
forgotten said:
Thought I would share this recent update I received:

McCoy v. State ,(Fla.App. 1 Dist.)

Criminal Justice - Prescription defense is available to innocent possessor of another person's prescribed drugs.

A prescription defense is available to an innocent possessor of another person's prescribed drugs. The innocent possessor must have a legally recognized reason for the possession, such as an agency relationship with the other person. The issue was one of first impression in Florida.
Click to expand...
I.e. pharmacy delivery, EMS, house call doctor, or even family member picking up RX for delivery directly to said person.
 
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