The Kickham Comment - Boston Criminal Attorney Blog
A 31 year-old Hingham Massachusetts woman was arrested by Braintree police last Tuesday and charged with possession of heroin and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. In addition to the woman, two men who allegedly sold the woman the heroin were also were arrested and charged with possession and conspiracy to distribute. Braintree police had received a tip about the alleged transaction, and had staked out the street, Logan Drive, where they reported observing the alleged Massachusetts drug offense.
Allegedly, the woman exited her car, conversed briefly with the two men, then got back in her own vehicle. Afterward, the two cars drove away in separate directions. Police intercepted both vehicles, and questioned the suspects. Two bags of what reportedly appeared to be heroin were allegedly discovered on the woman’s person, inside a cigarette pack. After being questioned by police, the woman reportedly stated that the two men who she spoke with on Logan Drive, had provided her the heroin. Noel Vazquez, 29, of Jamaica Plain and Orlando F. Negron, 31, of Dorchester were arrested and charged with distribution of heroin and conspiracy to violate the Massachusetts Controlled Substances Act. Additionally, Negron, who drove the vehicle, was also charged with operating with a suspended driver’s license, possession of a Massachusetts and Pennsylvania driver’s license with a false name. Aside from the more serious drug offenses involved hee, these Massachusetts motor vehicle violations also carry serious penalties. Negron was also charged with providing a false name to a police officer following arrest, and he has an outstanding warrant for drug and traffic offenses in Weymouth. $1,127 in cash was seized from the two men. The Hingham woman’s name was not yet available at the time of this writing.
I can assure my readers that Massachusetts drug offenses, from the petty and minor to the most serious, are charged in the courts throughout Massachusetts, every day. As a Dedham, Massachusetts drug offenses lawyer, I see it all the time. But what makes arrests like this stand out a little more is the fact that the defendant who is accused of buying the heroin, is from a very upscale, wealthy community. Most of the time when people hear of serious drug offenses involving substances such as heroin, they think of inner-city urban crime, often found in the gritty streets of crime-infested communities. I could name you such communities in Massachusetts, but I won’t. What I can tell you, though, is that the problem of serious drug use on the scale of heroin and cocaine, does indeed occur in wealthy suburbs, too – and reports like this illustrate that unfortunate point.