South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

On January 22, 2010 the chief administrative judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) issued a new administrative rule which allows Drug Court to accept criminal defendants in Florida with substance abuse problems, even if their drug charges are more than mere possession. Prior to the new rule the only defendants charged with drug possession, such as possession of cocaine, or possession of oxycodone could be admitted to drug court. The expanded rule does not permit those charged with trafficking in cocaine or trafficking in cannabis (marijuana) to enter drug court, but it does permit Florida criminal defendants with drug delivery or drug paraphernalia charges to be admitted. Call your local Florida criminal defense lawyer in Fort Lauderdale for an update on the new rule. Florida criminal defense lawyer Ralph Behr filed the first legal motion to admit one of his drug arrest clients into the drug court program. This will be the first test case to admit a cocaine delivery criminal defendant in Florida into drug court. Stay tuned for an update in March of 2010.

Eleven individuals were arrested in a major drug trafficking investigation undertaken by the Department of Justice's Organized Crime Drug enforcement Task Forces programs. Most of the individuals were felons found to be in possession of various types of firearms, as well as crack cocaine or cocaine derivatives. A major kingpin, "Antonio Marroquin", was indicted during the operation. He was one of the biggest distributors in the Manatee area. Total seizures obtained about four kilos of cocaine, $250K in cash and nearly $1 million in property and various assets.

Under Federal law, penalties for drug crimes can be more severe than if a person were found guilty of a drug crime under state law. A person found guilty of a drug crime under Federal law can face life imprison and be required to pay a fine of up to $8 million.

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