how to beat a confidential informant how to beat a confidential informant

Here in Mexico, there is no justice, only impunity," Magana says. Meeting with a lawyer can help you understand your options and how to best protect your rights. Fines begin at $50,000 and may exceed $250,000, not including lawyer fees and court costs. Confidentiality is what makes the informant valuable. It could cause real problems for the prosecution, but doesnt necessarily mean a win for you. In a court case, the prosecution must disclose any evidence and witnesses they have against the defense during a discovery process. Drug trafficking charges may be suitable for the following weights and amounts of common drugs: This list of illegal, controlled substances is not all-inclusive of substances that may incur charges of drug trafficking in the state of Florida. Two ICE employees were forced to take early retirement, but others received light reprimands and are still on the job. On the other hand, police and prosecutors' concern for confidential informants is not misplaced. For this analysis, as is often the case, OSI recruits a CI, tasks the CI to collect information on the accused's use of a controlled substance, and then obtains information about the accused's use of a controlled substance at an off-base party. Here are five common factors courts will consider in judging the credibility of a confidential informant: 1. Courtesy Texas DMV, U.S. D.O.J. Whatever the amount of money that may be offered in exchange for you becoming a CI may not be worth you and your loved ones being put in danger. Penalties for Drug Possession Charges as a Minor. In most cases involving a confidential informant they, by necessity, use people that have a horrible criminal history. In an interview with NPR, Kumar Kibble, a top ICE official and a former director of criminal investigations for the agency, says, "I want to emphasize that our primary obligation is to protect life and limb." The information provided on this site is not legal But this is nearly non-existent in state cases and rare, at best, in federal cases. For a free case evaluation that is completely free of obligation, contact Weinstein Legal law firm today and ask for defense lawyer Matt Shafran. "This is an isolated incident, where in fact the person was held accountable when they didn't follow our procedures.". The state will do its best to not reveal the identity of the CI. Both federal and state law enforcement officers use confidential informants. He responded the same day, always kept us abreast of the process, and although my son lives in a different city, he drove a few hours to attend court with my son, and was able to negotiate a pre-trial diversion program and drop the felony charges to misdemeanor charges. A few other articles found on the internet will give an expanded version of that list. However, an informant whos been burnt obviously wont be trusted in their typical circles. of this site is subject to additional hide caption. If youre worried about how to beat a confidential informant, let the, represent you. The video was shot four years ago at Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minn. (See clips from the video on the timeline of Lalo's case). However, this does not have to be the case. But Bencomo stayed on, and so did Lalo. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. How Much Jail Time for Felony Grand Theft? Kansas bill would give context about jailhouse informants | The Kansas Motives and Motivations of Confidential Informants The Drug Enforcement Administration blacklisted him. Fortunately we have done it for you. If you need help defending yourself from these cases, our criminal defense firm can help. Those are . The faces of Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez Peyro through the ages, from various drivers licenses, a passport and a video of him in jail. Copyright 2023 Law Offices of M.J. Snyder, LLC | All Rights Reserved. ICE kept Lalo on its payroll, and even worked with a federal prosecutor to get his drug charges dropped. North Little Rock, AR Criminal Law Lawyers, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Visit our attorney directory to find a lawyer near you who can help. Theres another reason police may want to keep the identity of their informant a secret: they dont have one. A responsive, knowledgeable and skilled attorney. The identity of the CI can be necessary to a Defendants defense in their criminal case. Yes, a felon can be an informant. Working As A Confidential Informant Criminal or confidential informants assist law enforcement in setting up and busting others accused of violating the law somehow. In many cases, the confidential informant is facing some type of criminal charges themselves, so their cooperation is motivated by the possibility of lessening their own charges. How To Beat A Confidential Informant - Wakelet At Weinstein Legal, we work diligently to uncover all of the facts surrounding your case and believe that this is essential when considering how to beat a drug trafficking charge. 0000032775 00000 n Secure .gov websites use HTTPS My son got a felony for possession of THC oil, I immediately started looking for legal assistance and was blessed to find Mathew Shafran. in the former, a crime is reported to the police and an investigation is initiated; in the latter . Our consultant Dr John Buckley will be. The state makes a differentiation between the two charges in several ways, one of which is the amount of a specific drug found on your person or in your control at the time of your arrest. In the fall of 2003, Santillan and a band of crooked Mexican police officers went on an eight-month crime spree killing, kidnapping and torturing drug rivals in Juarez. If the FBI has identified you as a person who has a connection to a criminal enterprise, activity or target, the Bureau may approach you to provide it with information. The CI must provide 100% honest information. Some informants have personalities that make them difficult to manage. The CI may do controlled buys. This means that the CI will have an agreement with the police. Generally, informants may enjoy more protection from being identified or forced to testify in court than other laypeople. Attention is given to forms, reports, records, and files that are the foundation of the information gathering and control procedures. But former DEA Special Agent Phil Jordan says in Lalo's case, every federal rule and regulation was broken. The attorney Former ICE Agent Raul Bencomo, recalling listening to a tape recording that Lalo made of a murder. Courtesy Raul Loya "Are you kidding me? Even repeat offenders have the chance to beat their charges and avoid a conviction with the right legal help. Skip to content. You can receive an entirely free case evaluation with absolutely no obligation. It provides comprehensive guidance on how to recruit and manage confidential informants and has an entire chapter dedicated to a better understanding of what motivates confidential informants. Details for individual reviews received before 2009 are not displayed. You cant enforce these agreements or conversations. Dead men tell no tales.1 tilizing confidential informants to obtain incriminating information has been described as "dirty business."2 And it certainly is. Official websites use .gov Exposing the confidential informants identity would spell the end of the governments ability to use that informant again in the future. Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor. Criminal defense attorneys have a host of tools to do this. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. hide caption. Ask a Question About Investigations, Arrests, and Trials in Our Community Forum, Anonymous 'Reliable' Tip Can Justify Traffic Stop. The information may prove to relate to exculpatory evidence. Appended material on confidential funds, a roles and responsibilities matrix, a confidential informant written directive, and an informant working agreement. The CI may be wearing a wire or recording device. It may be challenging for law enforcement to prove that you were the source of the narcotics that led to the individuals death and suspicion alone is not enough to convict a person and send them to jail for many years. The Use of 'Confidential Informants' Can Lead to Unnecessary and Criminal defense attorney Matt Shafran at Weinstein Legal is precisely the representation you need. Receive a phone call from attorney Marni Jo Snyder for a free initial consultation. "We stayed there all night and watched as they pulled out bodies," Magana says. %%EOF For a quick fix solution Wikipedia provides a list of potential motivations. The definition of drug trafficking in Florida, according to the state legislature, is: Any person who knowingly sells, purchases, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of a controlled substance over a certain weight/amount or under certain circumstances. When using an informant to make a drug purchase (called a controlled buy) the police often will wire the informant in advance, provide currency to make the purchase (after photocopying or writing down the serial numbers on the bills), search the informant for drugs right before the deal, transport him or her to the deal, and search the informant\'s person again right after they leave the site of the deal. ZIP You deserve the same chance at having an excellent legal defense. The high court held that reliance on informant testimony implicates . Now, with Lalo on board, agents set their sights on a Juarez kingpin known as the Engineer: Heriberto Santillan Tabares. A Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer at our firm will work tirelessly to protect your rights and your freedom the way we have for other clients. Informants who fully cooperated and provided truthful information to law enforcement can cause significant damage to their co-conspirators but in order for them to do this we need to know what will motivate them to do so. By declaring a CI provided the intel, the police may try to get away with introducing the information to the case without explanation. There must be some legal guarantee that a CI's info is good. All rights reserved.|Disclaimer|Privacy policy. Lawyers from our extensive network are ready to answer your question. Today, Lalo insists he never killed anyone, though court documents show he admitted being present during several murders; he even acknowledged driving two victims to a Juarez house where he knew they'd be killed. As part of the review process, respondents must affirm that they have had an initial consultation, are currently a client or have been a client of the lawyer or law firm identified, although Martindale-Hubbell cannot confirm the lawyer/client relationship as it is often confidential. He says that the agency's guidelines for using confidential informants are sound. Contact us immediately for a free consultation where we can discuss the details of your case and how we can help. PDF Confidential Informants: Protecting Their Identity This is the first time that Bencomo has talked publicly. This video explains the risks and benefits of working as a police confidential informant. It hit me like cold water in the face; it just feels terrible. listings on the site are paid attorney advertisements. Theres another reason police may want to keep the identity of their informant a secret: they dont have one. The CI may be working several buy busts before the CIs work is finished with the police. ICE says the fault lies with former agent Bencomo, Lalo's handler. You will have to argue the CI got drugs from someone else, planted them in the area, ditched the buy money, and refused to implicate his actual source, all to frame you. Experts explain how confidential informants infect the - Inlander Bencomo says the agents were told that Santillan was the No. His performance in court was outstanding and gave me a big victory. Police and prosecutors generally want to keep the identity of their CI a secret. Once the case was done, ICE was also done with Lalo. My reservations were quickly eased during my initial consultation. However, you need a tireless defense team fighting on your behalf. Our son was distraught and frightened and Matt was very reassuring and supportive. "I was doing something good, something positive," Lalo said to an attorney during an interview that was videotaped four years ago. Make the CI contradict themself on the stand, If they have a history as a CI, call into question their history as a CI that has informed on lots of different cases for the prosecution. Guadalupe Juarez/AFP/Getty Images For now, he said, jail is better than the fate he faces in Mexico. A lock ( If the CI doesnt testify against you but the State uses the evidence from the CI against you, your attorney would need to know how to argue against the admissibility of this information. It can also be risky for the prosecution if they must give the CIs identity to the defense later. abstract. Once I reached out to Matt he was back in touch within the hour. Then, at trial, the Government calls the . If youre wondering how to beat a confidential informant at trial, you probably have serious charges against you, and the evidence from a CI is most likely damning. Additionally, using a CI may be an excuse to have probable cause for a search, raid, or arrest when there isnt another probable cause. "This is not an appropriate case to comment on, because the procedures that we implemented weren't followed.". Typically the police are in plain clothes in an undercover vehicle.. All of this is a disguise so that you cannot know the police are watching. CIs are regular folks that provide law enforcement with confidential, possibly damning, information against you. Evidence from CIs who have been busted for fraud or other crimes involving lying may be given less weight. You impeach them on the stand, which discredits the evidence, information, and testimony they give. A relatively untested CI, with no resulting arrests or convictions, may be less likely to be believed. 0000000016 00000 n His sincerity, empathy and commitment to advocating on my behalf were apparent. Evidence that a CI has reliably provided accurate information in the past may indicate to the court that he or she is credible. To get started working on your case and to learn how to beat drug charges in the state of Florida, contact Weinstein Legal today. Alabama Board of Medical Examiners Lawyer, Possession of a Controlled Substance Lawyer. Gonzalez lodged a complaint against ICE. We will review the facts surrounding your unique case and provide you with honest answers. Police and prosecutors generally want to keep the identity of their CI a secret. Believe it or not it is legal for law enforcement to pay a government snitch! If the said information was procured outside of standard procedure (illegal or questionable means), they might use the CI excuse. "There were these code words that the bosses would say to Lalo," Huerta says. At a Border Patrol checkpoint, Lalo got caught smuggling more than 100 pounds of marijuana stuffed into the wheels of his pickup. Schedule a free consultation today. People who submit reviews are either individuals who consulted with the lawyer/law firm or who hired the lawyer/law firm and want to share their experience of that lawyer or law firm with other potential clients. Expose any deals they have had with the prosecution to work off their charges in exchange for information, Play up the fact that they are being paid to inform against the defendant, Make them admit to wanting to avoid any negative consequences for themself or loved ones that would have occurred if they failed to cooperate. Keep the informants identity a secret, put the evidence aside, and rely on other evidence/witnesses/information to win the case if they have other evidence. Matthew and his team made calls and were very persistent. The monograph is organized around the confidential informant's employment . What evidence is needed to make a drug bust? On the tape, Lalo looks more like a victim than a drug thug. During several phone conversations with NPR last fall, Lalo insisted on speaking only Spanish. Jeralyn Elise Merritt (Unclaimed Profile). ICE's Kumar Kibble insists that his agency has already thoroughly investigated the matter. If the CI does testify at your trial, your attorney will have the opportunity to cross examine the CI and ask questions about any deals the CI made with the state. You may feel you are being watched. The monograph is organized around the confidential informant's employment: recruitment, selection, orientation, and training; direction and control; interviewing and debriefing; evaluation; and termination. The CI is not really taken to jail or if the CI is taken to jail, the CI is released later. But during our interview, ICE said that handbook still isn't finished. If you are wondering how to beat a drug trafficking charge in the state of Florida and have recently been arrested for the crime, contact the team at Weinstein Legal today. There are basically three types of informants: those who agree to cooperate with the police in exchange for favorable treatment in their own cases; those who inform in exchange for money; and citizen-informants who inform out of a sense of civic duty. Use the FBI as a source of information so that he can further his criminal operations and eliminate competition. The agency began deportation proceedings with the intention of sending him back to Mexico. [It is only available to law enforcement.]. You will not be able to notice the marks. The official state legislature does outline minimum sentences based on specific stipulations that are related to your charges. The Confidential Informant may be a drug dealer, a significant other, someone you are friends with, someone that works for you, someone that you work for, etc. The content of the responses is entirely from reviewers. All rights reserved. State House legislators last week overwhelmingly passed a bill that would require Kansas prosecutors to disclose information to defendants about so-called "jailhouse informants.". Distinguished: An excellent rating for a lawyer with some experience. Exculpatory evidence is evidence that could clear the defendant of guilt. 0000001273 00000 n Mr. Shafran has years of experience defending the rights of clients in a court of law and has secured a successful outcome for many individuals. Law enforcement will often corroborate a CI's information with consistent observations by officers. Our book: Why - Understanding Motive and Motivation provides a comprehensive guide that enables the reader to gain real understanding of the complexity of motivation and guidance on how to detect underlying motives that are normally hidden to others. The CI will contact you or maybe you contact the CI. It has been dubbed the House of Death. The only way to create an attorney-client relationship with the Firm is through a written agreement.Read More.