jul-19-xxxxxxxxxx

After a 3 month joint investigation by the DEA and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, our client was arrested for (1) Conspiracy to Traffic in More than 400 Kilograms of Cocaine, (2) Attempted Trafficking of 400 kilograms of Cocaine or More, (3) Attempted Sale of a Counterfeit Substance, and (4) Possession of Less than 20 Grams of Marijuana. The charges carried a maximum of 50 years in prison plus 1 year in jail and over $250,000 in fines. The highest charge also carried a minimum mandatory sentence of at least 15 years in prison with no early release possible. It was alleged that our client traveled from Miami to Orlando carrying 2 kilograms of cocaine brought in from the Bahamas to sell to an FBI confidential informant at the Florida Mall. Our client was originally booked in on a $500,000 bond and a pre-trial detention hold. Once our client’s family hired our firm, our attorney first began by filing a motion to reduce the bond amount and life the pre-trial detention hold. The Judge agreed with our motions and reduced the bond to $25,000 and lifted the hold. Next our attorneys began investigating the DEA’s evidence including surveillance video, recorded phone calls, text messages, and confidential informant testimony. Over 15 depositions were conducted in this case leading to evidence that our client’s co-defendant and another man were the actual targets of the initial investigation. We filed a motion to dismiss the charges against our client and argued that motion before the Judge a week prior to trial. Prior to the Judge issuing a ruling the State agreed to dismiss all felony charges against our client.