Two Search Warrants In New Castle Lead To Charges Of Possession With Intent To Deliver

Many drug crimes cases begin with a traffic stop.  Police can pull you over if you break a traffic law, even if it is for something minor like having a broken taillight or changing lanes without using a turn signal.  Then they can decide that a perfectly ordinary item in your car, such as a spoon from Dairy Queen, is drug paraphernalia, or even that you are acting suspicious, simply because you are nervous and stressed out because a police officer pulled you over and is about to issue you a traffic citation that you cannot afford to pay.  In other words, it doesn’t take much for an officer to claim probable cause to search your vehicle, so if you have a medium quantity of weed instead of a small quantity, or if your friend floated you a Xanax pill that she received by prescription, to make your stressful day a little less stressful, you could be in serious legal trouble.  If the drugs are in your house, however, the police must go through a more thorough process in order to have the right to look for them.  If you are facing criminal charges after police searched your house and found drugs, contact a Pittsburgh drug crime lawyer.

Search Warrants and the Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects against illegal search and seizure of private property.  This means that, if police suspect you of a crime, they cannot search your property to look for evidence of the crime until a judge grants them a warrant for the search.  To obtain a warrant, the police must submit a statement to the judge, saying what they think they will find during the search and why they have reason to believe that the evidence is on your property.  The search warrant limits the area where the police can search.

In the News

On January 20, one investigation into alleged drug activity led to police executing search warrants at two residences in New Castle.  The first led to the arrest of Courtney Johnson, who was arrested after police searched his residence and found 8.1 grams of a powder believed to contain heroin and fentanyl, 3.6 grams of powder cocaine, 6.9 grams of crack cocaine, three handguns, more than $12,000 in cash, and assorted drug paraphernalia.  The second search led to the arrest of Kelsey Parks.  At her residence, police found 114.4 grams of powder believed to be cocaine, eight handguns, 14 suboxone strips, and a pill press.  Both defendants are facing charges for drug possession with intent to deliver, drug paraphernalia charges, and weapons charges.

Contact Gary E. Gerson About Drug Crimes Defense Cases

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are being accused of drug crimes, such as possession of controlled substances with intent to deliver or possession of drug paraphernalia.  Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.

Source:

wkbn.com/news/local-news/drug-raid-finds-cocaine-heroine-fentanyl-guns-and-more/