NARCOTICS and DRUG CASES
Vigorous, Expert Defense of Narcotics and Drug Charges, Domestic and International
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Roger Wilson has extensive experience defending persons accused of violating federal narcotics laws and of related crimes such as money laundering and racketeering.
Our clients have included alleged senior cartel members, multinational traffickers, and “street-level” actors. We handle cases across the spectrum, from simple possession charges to large-scale international trafficking. No case is too small or too large, too simple or too complex.
We are particularly situated to assist clients with international cases. Formerly, Roger practiced international law with a large, prominent international law firm in Washington, DC, where he represented many clients (mostly corporate, including banks) in such areas as sanctions-related enforcement matters with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) as well as in government-related international litigation generally. Roger also has served as an adjunct law school professor teaching courses in international law and federal courts.
From this experience, we have expertise in areas often uniquely involved in international narcotics cases. One such area is the complex legal regime governing extradition of charged persons to the United States from foreign countries. Another is asset freezes and sanctions applied against both foreign and U.S. persons under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act also administered by OFAC. Another still is the extensive rules regarding alleged international money laundering.
Our clients have included alleged senior cartel members, multinational traffickers, and “street-level” actors. We handle cases across the spectrum, from simple possession charges to large-scale international trafficking. No case is too small or too large, too simple or too complex.
We are particularly situated to assist clients with international cases. Formerly, Roger practiced international law with a large, prominent international law firm in Washington, DC, where he represented many clients (mostly corporate, including banks) in such areas as sanctions-related enforcement matters with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) as well as in government-related international litigation generally. Roger also has served as an adjunct law school professor teaching courses in international law and federal courts.
From this experience, we have expertise in areas often uniquely involved in international narcotics cases. One such area is the complex legal regime governing extradition of charged persons to the United States from foreign countries. Another is asset freezes and sanctions applied against both foreign and U.S. persons under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act also administered by OFAC. Another still is the extensive rules regarding alleged international money laundering.
International Cases
Roger has represented many persons charged in complex international narcotics trafficking cases. We have particular experience representing persons prosecuted in the United States for conduct abroad--including entirely abroad--for alleged violation of United States narcotics laws. Our cases have involved clients from and conduct in numerous foreign countries, including Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and Switzerland. Extradition We have substantial experience in the extradition context. A number of our clients have been extradited to the United States from foreign countries, including Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and Switzerland. This specialized context presents unique challenges, and also possible defense opportunities, for persons targeted for extradition to the United States. It is particularly important for persons detained abroad pursuant to U.S. extradition requests to consult with U.S. legal counsel as soon as possible after arrest abroad. Our firm can work with foreign counsel or directly with clients abroad facing extradition to the United States. We can assist foreign counsel in resisting extradition by a foreign country, including by advising on American law and the charges involved in the extradition request. We also can investigate the circumstances of the American case in which extradition is sought, including consultation with U.S. government officials in advance of the extradition, perhaps with a view to resolving pending or anticipated charges. By early attention to the cases of clients facing extradition, we can help to place the clients in the most advantageous position possible when extradition to the United States occurs. We also assist persons faced with extradition from the United States to other countries. |
Federal Narcotics Laws
Most federal narcotics prosecutions are based on one or more of a core group of federal crimes: possession; manufacture; distribution, or possession with intent to distribute; conspiracy; and importation. Charges also often are brought as so-called “phone counts”; and in certain circumstances, defendants are charged under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise ("CCE") laws. Charges are brought under these laws based on conduct within the United States as well as conduct in foreign countries. Charges also often are brought based on conduct occurring entirely on the high seas, outside the territory of any country, under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA). The elements required to be proved by prosecutors differ, sometimes greatly, among these types of charges. So do the potential defenses and penalties. In addition to the potentially severe penalties under the narcotics laws themselves, even greater dangers arise when weapons are involved (even passively) in narcotics offenses. Further, defendants who have been convicted of certain other offenses previously can face extremely severe sentences in current narcotics cases under the federal career-offender or Armed Career Criminal statutes. Read More Asset Freezes and Sanctions: The Kingpin Act
The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, 21 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq. (the so-called "Kingpin Act") is widely used by the U.S. Government to freeze and seize assets of foreign persons designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as "significant foreign narcotics traffickers", as well as other persons asserted -- in so-called "derivative designations" -- to be engaged in "materially assisting" or supporting such designated "kingpins", or to be owned or controlled by or acting on behalf of them, or to be playing a "significant role in" international narcotics trafficking. The Act also provides for the sanctioning and other punishment of other persons (including U.S. persons) who engage in financial transactions with such "denied persons" or involving assets in which those other persons have direct or indirect ownership interests. (This Kingpin Act is distinct from the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute, 21 U.S.C. § 848 et seq. -- the so-called Foreign Kingpin Statute".) We advise clients regarding the nature and application of restrictions under the Kingpin Act. This can involve negotiation with the U.S. Government regarding transactions potentially subject to prohibitions or sanctions under the Act. We also represent U.S. and foreign persons in enforcement actions taken by OFAC based on alleged violations of the OFAC regulations. The Sentencing Guidelines At the core of federal criminal defense practice are the United States Sentencing Guidelines. The Guidelines are lengthy, detailed rules created by the U.S. Sentencing Commission for application in the determination of appropriate sentences of punishment for all federal crimes. The Guidelines are enormously complex and are amended frequently. They are important at every stage of any federal criminal case. A comprehensive understanding of the Guidelines (not an occasional familiarity with them) is essential for a fully effective representation of anyone facing federal criminal charges. Such an understanding comes only from constant work with the Guidelines in federal (not state) cases over much time. Our firm has worked with the Guidelines extensively for years in every type of federal criminal case. The comprehensive and nuanced knowledge that comes from this experience changes the results in cases. While the Guidelines no longer mandatorily govern federal sentencing, after the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in United States v. Booker, they continue to play a predominant role. A comprehensive knowledge of the Guidelines best enables a lawyer to recognize pitfalls and opportunities that exist in them for clients (often beneath the surface) and to obtain the best possible outcomes. The Guidelines are critically important not just in connection with sentencing but also beyond the sentencing context. Applications of the Guidelines, possible alternative approaches available under them, can be determining factors in identifying, negotiating, and implementing favorable resolutions of cases, and sometimes even in negotiating to avoid the filing of criminal charges at all. |
Topics in Narcotics Defense
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RESULTS
The following are a few examples of our successes in narcotics cases:
WilsonLaw Defense Blog
RESULTS
The following are a few examples of our successes in narcotics cases:
- For a client under federal investigation for money laundering, we consulted with prosecutors to explain the true situation and persuaded them to not charge our client.
- For a client extradited to the U.S. from Colombia and accused of high-level involvement in a transnational cocaine distribution network in Central and South America, and facing up to life imprisonment, we identified problems with the extradition of the client to the United States and obtained a time-served (pre-trial) sentence and release.
- For a client from Latin America charged with involvement in a major narcotics distribution conspiracy while incarcerated in the United States, and facing up to life imprisonment here, we engaged in extensive litigation and negotiations involving the client's deteriorating health condition, which resulted in a release of the client with a time-served (pre-trial) sentence and immediate deportation of the client to his home country.
- For a client extradited to the U.S. from Switzerland/Spain, charged with involvement in narcotics distribution involving Europe, the Caribbean, and South America, and facing 20 years of imprisonment, we discovered critical problems in the Government’s evidence used for extradition of the client, as result of which in substantial part we were able to obtain a resolution of the case with a sentence of 48 months followed by immediate deportation. With credit for time-served in connection with and after extradition, the client was released one year after sentencing.
- For a client accused of improperly importing and selling over-the-counter drugs, we consulted with the prosecutors and persuaded them to dismiss the case; the client was released based on time-served.
- For a client accused of illegal entry into the United States and criminal conduct here, we consulted with the prosecutors regarding the true situation and persuaded the prosecutors to dismiss the latter charges and deport the client.
- Our client, a single mother of two young children, who had been brought to the U.S. by her parents as a young girl but had not gained secure immigration status, was charged with others working at a "pill mill" "pain management" medical clinic, where client had only recently obtained a job as a medical assistant. In a DEA undercover operation, our client and numerous others at the clinic were arrested and charged with narcotics trafficking conspiracy, which would have caused the certain deportation of our client upon conviction. After extensive negotiations with prosecutors, we secured a resolution by which our client was permitted to plead to a non-drug (and much lesser) offense and thereby avoid deportation.
- We have represented multiple law enforcement officers charged with crimes, including protecting narcotics deals while on duty and transporting narcotics in official vehicles. We have negotiated the resolutions of those cases with sentences far below the sentencing exposure of such persons under the United States Sentencing Guidelines—including in cases in which all the actions of our clients were done while under active federal surveillance. In several cases representing law enforcement officers we have by negotiations avoided criminal charges for the clients altogether.
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