My Busted Story - Extremely Fucked Up - Need Legal Advice!!

[Wrongfully Charged]

My Busted Story - Extremely Fu*%ked Up - Need Legal Advice!!

I pre-ordered my copy of Legal Muscle and have a fairly decent understanding of my rights and the CJS. It paid off about a month ago when I was met outside my mail box by US Customs, DEA, Local Vice, and a few other agencies I had never heard of. I knew what was going on and when they asked me what was in the package I told them I didn’t know as I hadn’t opened it yet. They asked me if I knew anything about it and I said that it says it’s from China. Then they began to ask me questions about other people at which I invoked my right to counsel and was placed under arrest for possession of AAS. I guess that is what was in the package from China; I never opened it or saw its contents.

They took me to my apartment and asked for the keys so they wouldn’t have to break the door down and I told them I would not give them my keys as that could be seen as consenting to a search. We waited 5 hours until finally a search warrant was issued and they entered my apartment to find 26 bottles of testosterone and some syringes. Then they asked me what some pills were in a safe and I repeated that I wasn’t going to talk to them without talking to my attorney first.

Some of the agents were cool and respectful, loosening my cuffs and getting me something to drink while some others were talking about what a big time bust this was and how fucked I was. Then they told me that I was looking at possession of 12,000 doses dbol that was in the package plus another 260 doses for the 26 10ml bottles. This is complete bullshit because in my state, North Carolina, a dose is 50 tablets or 1 10ml bottle so I was legally in possession of 250 doses, not 12,260. This is a major difference because most DA’s have no clue about AAS and think I had 12,260 hits of X on me.

Finally, after 7 hours, no attorney, and bullshit threats, the tax collector arrived and told me that whatever I told him was a civil case and would not affect criminal charges despite the fact there are 20 agents tearing my place apart. I’m sure they wouldn’t listen though. Then I was getting pissed because I don’t know who the hell this guy is or if he a tax collector or narcotics investigator and told him again I wasn’t going to talk to anyone until I spoke with my attorney.

Then the tax man got out a calculator and in literally 5 min, punched some numbers in and told me I owed $88,453 in taxes…and that it was due NOW! He told me I had to give them my car and other items of value that could be used to pay off the debt. At this point, I was pissed as hell and told him there was no way in hell I would make that kind of decision without consulting my attorney I asked for 8 hours ago. They said they would leave my car but if I moved it I would be arrested again and that if I didn’t pay the $88k within 48hrs it would increase by 50%. I was so pissed at all these bullshit scare tactics so I told them fine, I don’t care, and I’m not giving you anything now.

Now this is what really pisses me off. The car is registered in my Dad’s name because I got it about 5 years ago and paid it off 3 years ago. It was still in his name for insurance purposes. Once they find that out, they call my Dad at 11:30 at night and tell him his son is running a drug cartel, looking at time, and owes over $88k but if he signs the car over to them they will use it against my taxes otherwise it will be confiscated by the police dept. Of course my Dad wasn’t ready for that call and did the best thing he felt he could – sign over the car. I couldn’t talk to him because I was in jail for 48hrs during which I could not see any visitors.

I finally post bond and return to find my apt completely empty – computers, TVs, furniture, barstools, patio furniture, my headboard, watches, jewelry, everything was gone.

How the hell can they legally take all my possessions without even letting me speak with my attorney and before I have even been proven guilty?

Is “Innocent until proven guilty” not a part of our legal rights anymore.

I’m going to speak with my attorney tomorrow and would greatly appreciate any insight or advice that would be beneficial so I can make sure he knows.

Thanks bros, and a special thanks to RC – you are the man!

 

[ROID WARRIOR]

At the outset, you have to be commended for being mentally tough and not making any statements, despite the law enforcement officers' efforts.

To obtain a serach warrant, law enforcement needs probable cause: a reasonable belief that a crime was committed and that the proceeds or instrumentalities of that crime will be found at the location specifically described. In this case, apparently a judge was convinced, predicated upon the investigative reports and law officer/agents affidavits, that probable cause existed and therefore signed a search warrant.

As you'll soon find out, Rick dedicates whole chapters of LEGAL MUSCLE to probable cause, search warrants and civil and criminal asset forfeiture. Although civil asset forefeiture has been reined-in to some degree in recent years pursuant to CAFRA, there is still a difficult burden upon the claimant.

Good luck,

RW

 

[Latamier]

I'll give this a BIG BUMP for ya so that Rick will hopefully see it. Good luck bro.

 

[Mr.Kachok]

man, that is messed up...... bump and GL

 

[Old School JJ]

Nope... its not me

That sucks bro.
And NO.... its not "me" that was busted. Just because it was in the same "state" doesnt mean it had anything to do with me.
Please... no more emails from my worried bros... i am a little delayed because of "homeland security" but i am getting things smoothed out.

JJ Insane 1 (Old school)

 

[Rick Collins]

Saw the post. Looks like a story for "Legal Muscle 2"! I'll be out in Cali until next week but Wrongfully Charged can PM me if he needs me sooner.

 

[Wrongfully Charged]

More explanation

Thanks for all the support, bros. Here are some more details of how it went down.

On the search warrant, it said that a packaged addressed to me from Romania was stopped by customs in December and contained 2500 tablets believed to be AAS. A sample was tested and it came back negative for any anabolic compound. The detective who is so knowledgable about anabolic steroids, despite not knowing what constitutes a dose, knew that often times people would recieve fake steroids which was probably what happened to me.

Somehow, this shipment that tested negative for any anabolic substance helped establish probable cause for the search warrant. How I dont know. If anything it should have been evidence that any package addressed to me did NOT contain anabolics!

Anyway, there I am eating breakfast when I get a call that I have recieved a package at the MBE location and I should come pick it up. As any reasonable person would do, I went to go pick up the package and before I could even open it, I was confronted by a task force of law enforcement and the rest is history.

Also, despite invoking my right ot an attorney upon being Mirandized, the cops continued to question me for the next 6 hours until I was finally so pissed I asked them how many more times they were going to try to violate my rights. One cop who could have been a spokesman for anadrol he was so bloated asked me if I worked out at XYZ Gym and when I told him to stop talking to me because I wanted to speak to my attorney he said it was only a friendly question. Then when I asked him what made him think I trained at XTZ Gym he said it was based on some information he had recieved..not just a friendly question, huh?

Hopefully someone can learn from my experience. If I can give a few pieces of advice, they are:
1. Never talk to law enforcement without talking to an attorney
2. Never consent to a search
3. Do so respectfully, and
4. Dont think it cant happen to you

 

[plethos]

I really feel for ya bro. Everything looks a lot worse than it really is at first because they do everything in their power to get you into as much trouble as possible and make it seem as bad as possible. I can't believe they even had the IRS audit you and sent the tax man after you. Now that's messed up. Looks like this is getting very expensive for you.

Once your lawyer gets involved everything will settle down a bit. Looks like they got ya on possession unless you can successfully challenge the warrant. You never did open the package and they have no proof of any knowledge you might have had as to the contents so your challenge may be that it was never actually accepted and without acceptance of the package there would be no probable cause. What did you end up getting charged with, just possession or intent to sell or trafficiking too.

You're definately going to want to get possession of the package of dbol dropped since they only found 26 bottles of test in your apartment. Possession of anabolics in North Carolina is only a misdemeanor and you can be eligible for the TASC alternative program. But once it exceeds "100 tablets, capsules, or other dosage units" it becomes a felony.

You might want to be sure that the federal steroid discount of 50 tabs or 10 ml= 1 dose is really aplicable to your state because NC stat. 90-95 seems to reference it differently. There will probably be some litigation on how stat. 90-95 should be interpreted for steroids. If they take stat. 90-95's technical definition over the federal sentencing guidelines 26 bottles actually may be looked as 260 doses in which case it is a felony anyway and the warrant challenge may be your only chance to avoid serious trouble.

Most likely you will end up getting a plea bargain where if you plea guilty to posession of the 26 bottles of test they will drop the charges for the package which they will have a hard time trying to make stick anyway. Then you may want to try to see how your challenge on the warrant holds before you go with the deal if you think you have a chance with it.

I have no idea what to do about the confiscated stuff. I can't believe your dad actually signed away his car. Hopefully you can get it back since the tax man isn't accusing your dad of any wrongdoing and it is his car to let anybody he wants drive it. But it looks like he signed it away to pay for the debts they say you owe. There's a whole chapter (ch 20) in Legal Muscle that refers to asset forfeiture but it seems to mostly refer to foreiture of assets used for crimes and I don't know how much it relates to tax evasion forfeiture.

 

[[email protected]]

told me I owed $88,453 in taxes

For what?!??!?! Where does this fit in? Where did this number come from?

Also, they can not slam you with a 50% surcharge for not paying on the spot or within 48 hours. That’s bullshit. Second, you have the right to challenge any assessment.

A car not in your name is not within their right to seize. They can threaten all they want to. That transfer was under duress anyway. I would guess everything you had was taken to partially satisfy your debt but they cannot sell it until your debt is in default.

When I was busted I asked for an attorney and was grilled for 9 hours anyway. I gave them nothing and finally because I was an asshole they put me through the system. Not getting an attorney is not that uncommon.

The gear was fake but in the eyes of the law it is real. It’s like selling or possessing fake cocaine and selling it. Even though it’s fake you still take the hit as if it was real. Here is a pisser. In NYC there is a one year mandatory for having a gun. The law also states that a toy gun can be considered a gun for conviction. That means if you have a toy gun on you, you may have well been carrying a real one because the charge and time are the same. How many kids are felons!!! I don’t feel safe walking down the street with all this outlaw kids playing cowboys and Indians.

This entire incident sounds insane. More reasons why this country sucks!

 

[Citruscide]

I am assuming the tax people are taking what they think a percentage of the "sales" of the 12,000 doses would be, and taking like 50% of that in taxes?? So they are assuming that 12,000 doses are around 17,000 dollars on the street? That is my only thinking behind that... although, I've never heard of someone coming to do that immediately after a bust though... Usually, that is delt with in some sort of fine that is attached at sentencing, which is based on how much you had alledgedly sold, not how much you possessed... From the facts, I don't see any relevant information on how much you sold, or any at all for that matter.

It's fucked they kept questioning you for 6 hours after you invoked your rights... but let me ask you, did they read you your rights? -- technically, they don't have to... because from the description you were in "custody" -- handcuffed and I would believe a reasonable person would have felt they couldn't have left --- the only thing they could have argued is they didnt' charge you yet, so the Miranda didn't kick in... but to me, that is bullshit... it technically doesn't matter -- as long as you are in custody... and custodial questioning is taking place.

I'd highly suggest talking to Rick on this one... I think I'm on the mark on the topics I discussed, but it really sounds like you are getting royally fucked.

C-ditty