Victories: Federal Cases

Federal Drug Conspiracy Participant Gets No Prison Time

RESULT  |  No prison sentence

A woman was charged in federal court for the Western District of Washington with participating in a large drug distribution ring. Her involvement in the crime was captured on the court-ordered wiretap that was part of the evidence in the case. She agreed to plead guilty to the crime and faced a sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines of 30-37 months. She had been released after her initial arrest. She spent much of the time that her case was pending addressing the addiction that had caused her to be involved in the crime. After strong sentencing advocacy on her behalf, she received a sentence of credit for time served (the week she had spent in custody after her initial arrest) and a three year period of supervised release (“probation”).

Federal Fraud Investigation — Woman’s Husband Committed Fraud

RESULT  |  No Charge Filed

A woman who was under investigation for fraud was ultimately not charged after the defense did its own investigation, which revealed that the woman’s husband had forged her signature and defrauded the woman out of money. The husband was indicted and convicted for fraud but the case against the woman was not charged.

Federal Grand Jury Witness with Criminal Exposure

RESULT  |  No charges filed

A woman was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury in a sex trafficking case. Because of her own possible exposure to being charged with a crime, she asserted her right to remain silent and refused to testify, even in the face of the prosecution’s threats to charge her if she did not cooperate. The defense assessed the situation and did not believe the prosecution’s threats that the woman would be charged. She did not testify and was not charged with a crime.

Making False Statements to Federal Officer — Woman Lied to Federal Authorities

RESULTS  |  No charges filed

A woman took in a girl and man who were traveling together. The woman did not know this, but the girl was a minor who was being victimized by the man who was acting as her “pimp.” The girl had told the woman that she had left an abusive home and was on the run to stay safe. When authorities investigating whether the girl was a victim of sex trafficking came to speak to the woman, she lied to authorities and claimed she had not had contact with the girl. The defense showed prosecutors that the woman believed she was protecting the girl and that she was especially vulnerable because of her own history of abuse and a head injury which had affected her decision-making ability. Based on this information, the prosecutors declined to press charges against the woman for making a false statement.

Federal Drug Case — Misidentification by Informant

RESULT  |  Dismissed

An informant working for law enforcement misidentified a man as having been involved in drug dealing. The defense was able to show the prosecutors that the man had an alibi for the time he was allegedly at a drug deal and that he was not the person who had met with the informant. The informant then admitted to the prosecutors that he had misidentified the man and the case was dismissed.

Federal Drug Case — Woman Who Drove Boyfriend and Drugs to Drug Deal

RESULT  |  Dismissed

A woman was asked by her boyfriend to drive him somewhere. She did not know that a suitcase the boyfriend put in the back of the car contained drugs. She drove her boyfriend to what turned out to be a drug deal with an informant working with law enforcement. She, her boyfriend and others were arrested, indicted and charged with ten-year mandatory minimum drug offenses. The woman was a mother of two with no prior criminal history. After reviewing the evidence and doing investigation and presenting its defense to the prosecution, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the case.

Federal Drug Case — Man at Heroin Deal with Informant

RESULT  |  Dismissed

A man was charged with delivery of heroin after he was present at a drug deal with an informant who was working with law enforcement. The man faced a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years because of the quantity of drugs involved in the drug deal. After reviewing the evidence against the man and arguing to the prosecutor that there was no evidence to show the man was involved in the deal at all other than his presence at the deal, the prosecutor agreed to dismiss the charges.