Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department arrested one of their own this week for alleged drug crimes. Fort Lauderdale Police accuse Officer Justin Krashefski, 27 of buying drugs while on duty in his marked Fort Lauderdale police cruiser.

Police chief Frank Adderley stated that “This is not representative of law enforcement officers, particularly Fort Lauderdale police. When we find indications of crimes being committed, we investigate.” I agree with the Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley that crimes such as this arrest may not necessarily be "representative of law enforcement officers." However, I do believe that those who head police agencies such as the Fort Lauderdale Police Department are too often quick to dismiss alleged criminal misconduct committed by those sworn to protect and serve. For example, remember Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Paul C. Lawrence? This is the Florida Highway Patrol Officer arrested for falsifying hundreds of traffic citations? It was only after dozens of complaints about the Florida Highway Patrol Officer before an investigation actually initiated.

In this case, Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Justin Krashefski purchased drugs while claiming to be involved in a "police investigation." He demanded that a man meet him where he purchased the drugs. That man happened to be an undercover police informant. Needless to say, the informant brought this to the attention of the authorities. Police set up a sting operation where an undercover informant met Officer Krashefski. At this meeting the Officer purchased five Oxycodone pills from the undercover informant.

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Michael Douglas's son was sentenced to five (5) years in United States Federal Prison for "distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine"

Cameron Douglas, 31, pleaded with U.S. District Judge Richard Berman for a break in his sentence. Both his father, Michael Douglas, as well as his mother, Diandra Luker, appeared at his sentencing. Those who were present stated that his mother, Luker, broke down in tears. His father, Michael Douglas, fought back tears but was obviously overwhelmed with emotion.

Douglas was arrested at a Manhattan nightclub in July of 2009. At his sentencing he begged with the Judge for a lighter and more reasonable sentence. He stated, "I believe, your honor, things will be different this time," he added. If given a second chance, he said, "I will never squander that opportunity."

Although the Judge received numerous letters from many celebrities begging for leniency for Douglas, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman appeared determined to issue the 5 year sentence.

The Judge appeared unmoved by many of the celebrity letters. In fact, he stated that many of the letters implied that Douglas should not be made an example of just because he is the son of famed actor Michael Douglas. The Judge went on to state that, "None acknowledged appropriately the numerous impacts to victims of society for dealing drugs."

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In a sting dubbed Operation Pill Crusher, two dozen alleged drug dealers in Kentucky have been arrested and accused of obtaining prescription drugs at popular Florida pain clinics and taking them back to Kentucky to sell. A Miami Herald investigation published last week showed that pain clinics in Florida -- particularly Broward County -- are dispensing prescription narcotics daily to traffickers traveling from Kentucky and other states.
Doctors charge a few hundred dollars for an MRI that justifies the prescription and, in many cases, the drug seekers get monthly prescriptions filled at the clinics, for as many as 300 pills, without ever having to go to a pharmacy.

The drug dealers are making thousands of dollars for each trip to Florida. Each 30 milligram Roxicodone is selling for $30 on the street in Kentucky, a 15 milligram Roxicodone is selling for $15, and a Xanax brings about $4.

The stories showed that local doctors are dispensing the pills with little or no oversight -- exploiting lax state laws and health regulations -- while feeding an epidemic spreading across the eastern United States. On Tuesday, Kentucky law enforcement agents were rounding up alleged traffickers who police say are subsidizing car, van and airplane loads of people traveling to Fort Lauderdale to get prescription drugs from dozens of clinics.

Thousands of Kentuckians are traveling to South Florida's pain clinics. Once there, people get prescriptions for hundreds of painkillers like oxycodone, sold under the brand name Roxicodone, and for Xanax, an anti-depressant.

A combination of factors has led to the much-traveled Kentucky-Broward County pipeline. Kentucky and 37 other states electronically monitor the number of narcotics prescriptions a person obtains from physicians. But Florida has no such system.

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Pain clinics are everywhere in Broward County. I took a short drive the other day down Oakland Park Boulevard and saw over seven pain clinics just a few miles apart. It is no secret that the Fort Lauderdale Police and the Broward County Sheriff's Office keep a tight watch on these pain clinics.
Interestingly, Florida has no system in place to monitor doctor shopping. That combined with lax health regulations have created a free for all for drug traffickers. In Kentucky, the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting system, known by the acronym KASPER, tracks the people who are prescribing, dispensing and obtaining pills.

Continue reading "From Florida to Kentucky: The Drug Pipeline Keeps Growing" »

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PLANTATION - Leaders of the city's police union want to change their contract so officers won't have to take drug tests without knowing who accused them of abusing drugs.

"I could go to a pay phone right now and say, 'Officer X is taking drugs?' " said Michael Hanlon, president of the police union. Under current rules, the department could force that officer to take a drug test.

"That's just absolutely unacceptable," he said. "They don't have to even provide proof the confidential informant exists."

ANSARA RESPONDS
It is no secret that drug abuse can occur even within law enforcement. It appears that the Plantation Police Department is grumbling because under these new rules police officers may be drug tested should a "confidential informant" report drug abuse by an officer.

I believe that law enforcement must be held to a higher standard. Law enforcement officers hold extreme power and this fact should not be overlooked. This new policy simply makes more sense than random testing. If an officer has a problem getting drug tested than maybe this is the wrong profession to be in. Why should a police agency have to show an officer "proof" that a confidential informant exist? Last time I checked I am pretty sure that police officers worked for the police agency; not vice versa.

This new policy will allow any individual or perhaps even another officer to anonymously confront an officer's possible drug use without fear of retaliation. It is no secret that drug abuse among law enforcement officers does in fact occur. Now we have a better policy to address it. Let's hope the Plantation Police Department does the right thing and ultimately adopts this new policy.

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Michael Phelps embarrassed himself again after a triumphant Olympics, this time getting his picture snapped as he inhaled from a marijuana pipe. The photo wound up in a British tabloid Sunday, forcing Phelps to publicly apologize and his handlers to deal with sponsors who are surely none too pleased about the swimmer's choices away from the pool.

"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," Phelps said in the statement released by one of his agents. "I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."

Continue reading "Michael Phelps smokes Marijuana: Effects felt in Fort Lauderdale" »

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