WHY PINELLAS COUNTY FLORIDA DRUG ARRESTS & INVESTIGATIONS WILL SOON SPIKE & HOW TO SURVIVE

For the past eight years the office of theAttorney General has sought to tamp down needless drug arrests and investigations especially in Federal marijuana trafficking cases and drug cases that did not involve violence or the use of firearms. Further, at least from the top, Federal prosecutors were directed toward the goal of fair federal drug sentencing with less reliance on statutory minimum mandatory sentencing and the typically harsh federal drug sentencing. 

It's likely that Attorney General nominee Senator Sessions or someone of his mindset will soon change the direction of the Attorney General's office. Senator Sessions has denounced all those who use marijuana as "stupid" even those who happen to live in one of the many states where marijuana use is now legal. Further, he proudly cites his time as a federal prosecutor in the eighties as being "a lieutenant in the war on drugs." It's disconcerting because most people directly involved in that American war on drugs including the judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers who waged it, are in agreement that people's lives were needlessly destroyed and ruined because of widespread federal prosecutions that brought long prison sentences. In fact the current Justice Department has done what it can to mitigate the damage done during the anti-drug crusade by reducing sentences where appropriate.

The new focus of the Justice Department will be to make more Florida arrests in places like Pinellas County and to severely punish not only violent drug traffickers but also small quantity drug users. The punitive use of the federal criminal court system will inevitably draw more federal prison time for people who are nonviolent drug users using resources that should be used to punish those who commit violent crimes. 

If you've been investigated, arrested or under possible grand jury indictment or scrutiny for drugs in the Middle District of Florida in Pinellas or Hillsborough County you'll need an effective, reliable Clearwater defense attorney familiar with federal criminal law to help guide you toward the best possible outcome.

A GUIDE TO FEDERAL PROSECUTION PRIORITIES FOR INDICTMENTS IN THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

When confronted with a federal investigation it's vitally important for defense lawyers and their clients to fully understand the various factors used by prosecutors in making indictment decisions. Not every case referred to federal prosecutors finds it's way to the grand jury. There is in fact a natural process of deliberation, decision making and evidence gathering based on each district's prosecutorial priorities. Each district is guided not only by the prevailing priorities of the federal government but by local priorities.

Grand Jurors
Deliberating in The Middle District of Florida

In the Middle District of Florida the decision making process for seeking indictments is short circuited, by which I mean the process almost always leads to the seeking of indictments no matter how soft or hard the quality of evidence, in certain types of cases. There are four types of cases prioritized to the extent that there's very limited prosecutorial discretion in taking the case to the grand jury for an indictment. These are Trafficking in Drugs, Identity Theft with tax refund fraud, child pornography and firearm violations. Each of these cases arrive at a prosecutor's desk amped up, glowing and especially weighted toward seeking the harshest possible indictable offense with the longest sentences. 

America's war on drugs means that trafficking in drugs is both a local and national priority especially in that the Middle District of Florida is designated as one of the few venues for trials of the Central American drug war involving the United States Coast Guard taking down of go-fast vessels and drug carrying submarines with huge quantities of cocaine. Identity Theft is a local priority because it's so rampant in the Tampa Bay Area that even local law enforcement agents who used driver's license information for identity theft have been indicted. Child pornography and firearm violations are national federal priorities. 

In essence there is much less ability for the defense to influence indictment decisions in these four types of cases, because the prosecutor will have limited discretion. Further, in these four groups the FBI, ATF or DEA agent will be more knowledgeable as to strengths and weaknesses of each case than the assigned prosecutor. 

Other cases will gain or lose urgency based on the significance of the alleged crime, any possible threat to the community and media exposure. In these cases only the statute of limitations or staleness of evidence limit a prosecutor's ability to more thoroughly investigate possible criminal conduct before seeking an indictment.

COCAINE USE IS DOWN IN MIAMI, TAMPA BAY & PINELLAS COUNTY FLORIDA WHILE SUBSCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE & ARRESTS SURGE

The grim war on drugs continues in Florida. Rather than attempting to get treatment for drug abusers the State of Florida and the Federal Government continue to destroy lives with harsh penalties and harsh sentencing. While the people's true drug of choice - alcohol - kills more people than other intoxicants whether legal or not, undermining the very premise of the War on Drugs, that the Government is attempting to save lives.


The Miami Herald details the fall in Cocaine as the drug of choice in Miami, Tampa Bay and Pinellas, Florida, because of its high price per dose compared to relatively cheaper prescription drugs which are easier to obtain. 
Given that the purity of cocaine has been reduced by drug smugglers and dealers, users pay more and get less of the drug, while the drug users are increasingly turning to cheaper prescription drugs such as oxycodone that are easier to get, experts say.

Cocaine is “not disappearing, but it’s definitely declining,” said James N. Hall, director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Substance Abuse. “People are getting half of what they used to get — and this is occurring in the middle of the economic downturn. Cocaine, the most expensive drug on a per-dose basis, is costing more,” Hall said.

Below find a link to James Hall's alcohol study, which establishes that alcohol is much more destructive even than cocaine and methamphetamine, as cocaine is ranked fifth in causes of drug deaths, behind crystal methamphetamine and alcohol.

Criminal Defense Attorney and Trial Lawyer for Drug Crimes & DUI in Clearwater, FLhttp://cdn.trustedpartner.com/docs/library/UWBCCommission
Cocaine Use Wanes In Miami : Personal Liberty Digest
The CICAD Observer No. 21 - OAS

Cocaine Wanes in Popularity in South Florida | The Partnership at Drugfree.org

A Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer enjoys a small libation while awaiting a Jury Verdict.

Picasso Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto, 1903