When Virginia lawmakers meet for the 2013 legislative session, they will consider measures to increase penalties for illegal cigarette trafficking. During the 2012 legislative session, the General Assembly asked the Virginia State Crime Commission to study the practice and make recommendations before the start of the 2013 session. The panel voted to keep the offense…
Fifty two people were convicted on guns and weapons charges after a crime sweep throughout a year. According to the Department of Justice, fifty-one of those indicted pleaded guilty in federal court and the remaining person pleaded guilty in state court. All of those had been charged in May in a federal indictment after officials…
The leader of a methylone trafficking ring pleaded guilty this week to purchasing and distributing multi-kilogram amounts of the illegal substance from China and distributing it throughout Virginia. Nineteen-year-old Matthew Scott Baker of Fairfax, Va. was the last of eight people charge in the case to plead guilty, according to a press release from the…
More than a dozen drug defendants have been released and three state officials have resigned in the wake of charges a 34- year-old Massachusetts chemist lied about drug sample results. Annie Dookhan was arrested Friday for allegedly faking drug results, forging paperwork and mixing samples at a state police lab. Officials estimate Dookhan handled more…
The Virginia State Crime Commission was told Wednesday that smuggling cigarettes has become so lucrative, organized criminals and many former drug dealers are getting in on the act. During the legislative session last winter, the General Assembly told the commission to study the practice and make recommendations before the 2013 session commenced. With that session…
Twelve people have been indicted in what officials said is a large-scale cocaine trafficking ring, bringing narcotics from Mexico to Virginia. According to Neil MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, 41 people have already been convicted in connection with this alleged ring, which was funneling the drugs into Prince William County in northern…
A Vietnam war veteran and founder of Vietnam Veterans of America is accused of attempting to send a package containing more than a pound of marijuana from a FedEx Kinko’s to another veteran residing in Vermont. According to an AP article, Robert O. Muller tried to ship the package in September, but employees alerted police…