17 Horned Frogs Arrested For Selling Drugs

February 16, 2012

17 Texas Christian University students, including four members of the school’s football team, The Horned Frogs, have been arrested for selling drugs. The officers conducted a six-month investigation into illegal drug dealing on the school’s campus and are continuing their probe with the possibility of more arrests.

All of the 17 students that were arrested had sold drugs “hand-to hand” to undercover officers. The drugs that were sold included: marijuana, a variety of prescription drugs, ecstasy, and cocaine.

Three of the 17 students were arrested on campus, and all of the students that were arrested are possibly facing expulsion. Of the arrests, Chancellor Victor Boschini stated,

“TCU has never before experienced a magnitude of student arrest such as this.”

At The Gordon Law Firm, we understand that people make mistakes and we are here to help you get the best possible outcome so that you can move forward with your life. We have worked on many drug cases in the past and will give you the best legal advice for your case. Please feel free to give us a call or email us for a free consultation.

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Three Men Convicted On Cocaine Offenses

February 14, 2012

A U.S. District Court Jury in Alexandria, VA convicted Erasmo Alevarado-Ibarra, also known as Chiquilin, of consipiring to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. The 28 year-old from Woodbridge, VA is said to have been involved in a cocaine trafficking ring that smuggles drugs from Mexico to the Northern Virginia area.

Along with Alevarado-Ibarra, two other men Jose Zuniga-Ruiz, also known as Tio Tony, 40, and Silvestre Castro-Sandoval, also known as Silver, 36, were convicted of conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine in Fairfax and Prince William County.

Prosecutors stated that the three men were receiving multi-kilograms shipments of cocaine each month and would meet at hotels off of Route 1 in Woodbridge, Virginia in order to distribute the drugs in the Woodbridge and Alexandria areas.

Under scrutiny by authorities for some time, the Virginia Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force had given their investigation of the drug ring the name “Operation Springfield Snow.” They have so-far convicted 55 people connected with the ring with more arrests expected.

 

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Prince William County Fatal Stabbing Suspect Arrested, Charged With First Degree Murder

February 13, 2012

21 year-old Elvin Yobex Guzman Lopez has been charged with first degree murder for the fatal stabbing of 22 year-old Edwin Noe Enamorado Maute.

Authorities in Manassas responded to a stabbing that occurred in the 7600 block of Somerset Lane on Sunday around 9PM. Officers found Maute in front of his home with multiple stab wounds. The officers performed CPR and he was transported to a nearby hospital where he died later from his injuries.

Authorities are saying that both men were acquaintances, and when a verbal altercation between the two occurred, Lopez pulled out a knife.  Witnesses say that the victim tried to run from Lopez, but fell, and that’s when Lopez took that opportunity to jump on him and stab him repeatedly until witnesses intervened.

Officers took down a description and later found Lopez. He is now being held in Prince William County Jail without bond. His court date is set for March 26, 2012.

 

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Still No Suspects For “The Potomac-River Rapist”

February 10, 2012

Police officials and the FBI are still working hard to try and find the man responsible for eight sexual assaults and one murder. He is known as “The Potomac River Rapist,” because all of the victim’s homes were next to the Potomac River, where they were attacked.

The incidents occurred between May 6, 1991 and November 14, 1997 and all but one was in Montgomery County, MD. The last attack was in Georgetown and resulted in the murder of 28 year old Christine Mirzayan when she was walking home from a cookout.

Seven of the nine attacks were linked through the collection of DNA and the two remaining attacks were linked by similar methods the rapist used. Detectives are saying that the man would enter the victim’s homes and throw a towel or blanket over their heads and overpower them physically.

The rapist is being described as a black male between the ages of 40-50, with medium build, and between 5’ 8’’ to 5’11’’.

The FBI has launched a website specifically on “The Potomac River Rapist” in order to seek any information that the public may have.

Authorities are also using digital billboards along highways with the sketch of the rapist. They used similar tactics when looking for the “East-Coast Rapist,” and they successfully caught him with the help of the site/billboards.

FBI spokeswoman, Amy Godwin, said “This is something we’ve tried, and has worked, four or five times across the country in the past year.”

“We want to be able to use everything that the public has at their fingertips,” Godwin said. “So if they’re bringing it up on their iPads, their BlackBerrys, their ­iPhones, and they can easily get not only images but video and podcasts — anything the public uses on a daily basis — we want to be in front of them.”

As of right now, there are no suspects in custody and any information can be sent to FBI or Metropolitan Police.

 

 

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Virginia State Legislature Mulls New Public Safety Legislation, Increased Criminal Penalties

February 10, 2012

The Virginia House of Delegates is considering several new measures that would impose more severe sentences those convicted of crimes including DUI, assault and battery, drug trafficking and child rape. Amongst the bills under consideration by the house are:

• HB 49 - Penalty for DUI manslaughter.  

Introduced by: David B. Albo

Provides that the punishment for DUI manslaughter is to include a one-year mandatory term of confinement and raises the mandatory minimum term for aggravated DUI manslaughter from one to five years.

• HB 50 - Penalty for DUI maiming.  

Introduced by: David B. Albo

Provides that the punishment for DUI maiming, a Class 6 felony, shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of one year.

• HB 973 - Sex crimes; penalties. 

Introduced by: Robert B. Bell 

Imposes a mandatory minimum life sentence for rape, forcible sodomy, and object sexual penetration of a child under the age of 13.

• HB 751 - Recruitment of persons for criminal street gang; penalty. 

Introduced by: Benjamin L. Cline

Provides that any person who, by telephone or by any electronically transmitted communication producing a visual or electronic message, solicits, invites, recruits, encourages, or otherwise causes or attempts to cause another to actively participate in or become a member of what he knows to be a criminal street gang is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

• HB 752 - Assault and battery by strangulation; penalty. 

Introduced by: Benjamin L. Cline

Raises the penalty for assault and battery of a family or household member from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony when the assault and battery is accomplished by strangling the victim. The bill also raises from a Class 6 to a Class 5 felony the penalty for assault and battery of a family or household member when the perpetrator has been convicted of certain prior offenses and commits the offense by strangulation. The bill also expands the list of prior offenses for which aggravated punishment is authorized to include unlawful wounding as well as malicious wounding.

• HB 968 - Penalty for subsequent offenses of drug trafficking. 

Introduced by: Robert B. Bell

Provides that any person convicted of a second offense of drug trafficking who has also been previously convicted of any violent felony offense set forth in subsection C of § 17.1-805 shall be fined not more than $500,000 and (i) if the maximum term of incarceration for such prior violent felony offense is less than 40 years, sentenced to an additional mandatory minimum term of incarceration of five years or (ii) if the maximum term of incarceration for such violent felony offense is 40 years or more, sentenced to serve his term of incarceration consecutively with any other sentence of incarceration. The bill also increases the mandatory minimum term of incarceration for a third such offense from five to 10 years.

Each of these bills have come from the 18-member Hose Courts of Justice and Criminal Law subcommittee.  Of the proposed legislation subcommittee member, Delegate Terry Kilgore said:

“One of the most important duties of government is protecting its citizens. The Republican caucus is the leader in Richmond when it comes to protecting children and families from the dangers of this world,” Kilgore said. “The issues my colleagues have laid out for you today are just a small number of the initiatives the General Assembly is working on this session to make sure every Virginian is as safe and secure as possible.”

 

 

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