Criminal Charges:
Woman Arrested by Federal Drug Enforcement Agents and charged in United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts for Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault and Battery.
Case Overview:
Federal Drug Enforcement Agents conducted a long-term, wiretap investigation into a Dominican drug trafficking and money laundering organization. During the investigation, agents learned that a shipment of heroin was being transported by car from New York to Massachusetts. They learned of this by monitoring secretly wiretapped cellphone calls and physical surveillance. This drug and money laundering organization was led by two men. The girlfriend of one was conducting the transport. Her vehicle broke down on the Massachusetts Pike. DEA Agents then worked with Massachusetts State Police to locate the vehicle and coordinate its tow from the roadside. Troopers located the broken-down vehicle and the driver, a female, who stated she was in Massachusetts to visit her boyfriend. In order to maintain the secrecy of the undercover investigation, police allowed the woman to leave the scene. The car was towed to the barracks and searched. Agents discovered approximately one kilogram of heroin inside. By the time the investigation ended and members of this organization were arrested, the woman had left her boyfriend and relocated to the Dominican Republic. Once she learned there was a warrant for her arrest for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Heroin, she retained Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer, John L. Calcagni III, to defend her in this matter. Federal Defense Attorney John L. Calcagni III first traveled to the Dominican Republic to meet his new client and to negotiate her voluntary return and surrender to the United States. Part of the negotiations was to ensure the woman, who had no criminal history and was the mother of several children, was released on bail. Attorney John L. Calcagni III next appeared with the woman in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts following her arrival to Logan Airport. Once the woman was released, Attorney John L. Calcagni III negotiated a plea agreement on her behalf.
Case Result:
2 years of supervised release with the first 6 months of home detention. At sentencing, her applicable guidelines range was 37 – 71 months based on a criminal history category of I. The government did not make a specific sentencing recommendation, but indirectly asked that the woman receive some sentence of incarceration. Federal Attorney John L. Calcagni III successfully persuaded the Court that the woman not receive a jail sentence, but instead, a period of supervised release with a shorter term of home detention.
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
1 Courthouse Way
Boston, MA 02210
Phone: (617) 748-9152
