May 20, 2011

• Steven Topazio wrote this April 27, 2014 at 12:02 pm

The defendant, a disabled plumber, was arrested for trafficking in cocaine after officers discovered two quantities of cocaine in the amount of 19.5 grams, and cash totaling over $1600.00 on his person, hired Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Topazio to represent him. Possessing over 14 grams of cocaine, but less than 28 grams, constitutes the crime of trafficking and exposed the defendant to a minimum mandatory jail sentence of three years. Attorney Topazio obtained the police report and prepared several pretrial motions. Attorney Topazio discovered that the initial stop of his client was after he was observed by police swerving several times in his motor vehicle. When the police entered the license plate number for a check they determined that the vehicle had no inspection sticker, executed a motor vehicle stop, and then observed a crack pipe in plain view resulting in the defendant being ordered out of his vehicle. Attorney Topazio met with the Assistant District Attorney to discuss the case and pointed out that the defendant weighed 87 pounds when arrested and feared that his client would not survive due to his poor health. Attorney Topazio learned that his client had a severe crack problem which started following a gastric bypass medical procedure that was unsuccessful. That prior to his client’s unsuccessful gastric bypass procedure, his client weighed over 400 lbs. Attorney Topazio convinced the District Attorney that considering all the circumstances, including the progress his client made in his recovery, his lack of criminal record, the fact that he tried to kill himself with his drug addiction problem after his wife left him following his unsuccessful gastric bypass surgery, and the fact that his client’s own actions resulted in him punishing himself more severely than whatever the court system could ever possibly do to him; balanced against the Commonwealth’s interest in meeting out punishment and bringing defendants to justice in cases like this, caused the District Attorney to agree to a breakdown of the charges. As a result, Attorney Topazio convinced the District Attorney and the Court to dismiss the trafficking complaint on his client’s agreement to accept an 18 month suspended sentence on the balance of the indictment against his client. A dismissal of the trafficking count insured that his client would not do mandatory jail time.