Probation Search Leads To Drug Trafficking Charges
Compared to prison, a probation sentence sounds like freedom. You get to continue working at your job, and even though probationers must bear many of the costs of their own probation, it does not disrupt your economic productivity the way that a prison sentence does. As you scramble to pick up as many gigs as possible before the next installment payment comes due on your buy now pay later (BNPL) bills, it is easy to feel that you are in the same boat with people who do not have a criminal conviction. When you can manage enough gigs to keep ahead of your BNPL bills, you can order chicken wings from Door Dash whenever you choose, and if that is not freedom, then what is? Of course, when you are on probation, you are always one minor mistake away from the penitentiary, but the restrictions don’t stop there. The judge can dictate that you live with your parents for the duration of your probation, even if your parents drive you crazy, and you got along just fine with your housemates in your affordably priced house until the day the police found drugs in your living room. If you are facing new criminal charges because of the scrutiny you have undergone because of an ongoing probation sentence, contact a West Palm Beach drug offenses lawyer.
Probation Means Living Under the Microscope for Years
The Fourth Amendment protects against the state searching or seizing your property without a warrant. If police want to get a warrant to search your property, they must present evidence to a judge, showing what they think they will find if they conduct the search and what makes them think that they will find it. The circumstances in which the police can search without a court-issued warrant are limited. For example, items in plain sight or a driver’s behavior during a traffic stop can constitute probable cause for a search. Likewise, as long as your are on probation, officers can visit your house, subjecting your residence to the same implicit contract of law abiding to which registered vehicles are subject.
Things were going well for a Sarasota man who was serving a probation sentence until a probation officer made a routine visit to the man’s house. The probation officer saw drug paraphernalia and other evidence that made him suspect illegal drug activity, and based on what he saw during the visit, he easily obtained a warrant to search the residence. The search yielded more than 90 grams of fentanyl, plus cocaine, amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, hydromorphone, cannabis, and copious amounts of drug paraphernalia. Now the defendant is facing new charges for drug trafficking, and if he is convicted, he could receive a prison sentence longer than what he could have gotten as the maximum sentence for his previous conviction.
Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today
Attorney William Wallshein has more than 38 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County. Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
mysuncoast.com/2026/04/10/sarasota-man-arrested-drug-trafficking-charges-after-probation-search/
