While in Wellington Florida, an undercover PBSO officer noticed what appeared to be two indivdiuals in a vehicle looking around and acting suspicious. The officer believed that these individuals were going to conduct a drug transaction. The DEA was notified and an agent was dispatched to help establish surveillance on the vehicle. After about 30 minutes, the vehicle left the parking lot and traveled to the Walgreens Pharmacy in Wellington. The agent observed a gentleman exit another vehicle owned by the Defendant and walk up to the car that arrived from the previous location. The Defendant was driving the vehicle that the gentleman got out of. This gentleman had a conversation with a person at the window of the car that had just pulled up and he then walked back to the Defendant’s vehicle and got in. The officers could see that the gentleman was carrying an unknown amount of money which was handed to a female in the Defendant’s vehicle. The officers then moved in and ordered everyone to the ground and out of the car at gunpoint. A massive amount of drugs and paraphernalia were found in the Defendant’s vehicle. The Defendant admitted, post Miranda that numerous drug items and drugs in the vehicle were his. The Firm filed a motion to suppress arguing that under Florida Law, the Defendant and the other people in the vehicle were seized without an reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Additionally, because the Defendant did not have a trafficking amount of drugs on his person, the Firm was successful at getting the state of Florida to decline filing the charges for that 1st Degree Felony from the outset. After reviewing the motion filed by the Firm, the State of Florida dismissed all charges against the Defendant. The Defendant was facing a maximum of 37 years in Florida State Prison.
DUI & Criminal Division
