A 48-year-old California man suspected of distributing drugs in Ventura County was taken into custody on Aug. 14 by deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit. The Los Angeles County resident has been charged with felony counts of conspiracy, marijuana possession, cocaine possession and possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. He is being held at the Ventura County Pre-trial Detention Facility, and his bail has been set at $300,000.
The investigation that led to the man’s arrest began when investigators at the county jail turned over information about a suspected drug distribution network to the VCSO. Initial accounts do not make clear how the investigators acquired this information. The man was quickly identified as a suspect according to media accounts, but initial reports do not reveal what alerted deputies to his alleged involvement in the scheme. After taking the man into custody without incident, deputies obtained search warrants for two addresses in Littlerock he was associated with.
During these searches, deputies allegedly discovered more than 3 pounds of marijuana and less than an ounce of cocaine. An undisclosed amount of cash thought to be drug proceeds and unidentified items of drug paraphernalia used in connection with narcotics distribution and sales were also discovered according to the VCSO.
Evidence discovered during police searches may sometimes be excluded even when the officers involved obtained a warrant. This might happen when police strayed beyond limits established by the issuing judge or obtained search warrants based on questionable probable cause. When presented with facts like these, experienced criminal defense attorneys may read search warrant applications and police reports carefully to determine whether the searches conducted were legal. When questions persist, attorneys might seek to have the evidence discovered ruled inadmissible and the drug charges against their clients dismissed.
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