Los Angeles Drug Crime Defense Lawyer Blog

Events that allegedly occurred over Los Angeles as the president flew from Orange County to LAX cannot be described as a routine traffic stop. However, constitutional principles apply during any encounter between people and the government. Sources say that F-16 fighters were called in to intercept a small aircraft that allegedly flew into a no-fly zone created for the president. Federal agents and Long Beach police officers descended upon the Cessna after it landed and ultimately detained the pilot on suspicion of serious federal drug crimes.

Generally, a no-fly zone is installed within 10-miles of any aircraft carrying the president. President Obama made a West Coast visit recently, and while he was aboard Marine One, federal authorities say the Cessna strayed into the restricted air space. Authorities say that the Cessna never came close enough to endanger the president during the alleged incident. F-16s were dispatched from Riverside and forced the Cessna to land at the Long Beach airport Feb. 16.

A 29-year-old Lancaster man was pulled over for what the media characterizes as a "routine traffic stop" during the early morning hours Feb. 9. The media coverage does not indicate what may have provided law enforcement with a justification to make the so-called routine stop, which took place near the intersection of 40th Street West and Avenue D.

However, authorities claim that during the stop they discovered that the Lancaster man was driving on a suspended license and was also on probation for another offense at the time of the traffic stop.

After the encounter last week, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies apparently decided to use the opportunity to perform a probation compliance check at the man's home. Deputies descended upon the home after the 2:00 a.m. traffic investigation. In the end, the driver and eight other people who were apparently inside the Lancaster residence were arrested on suspicion of California drug crimes.

There has long been a set of guidelines for federal judges to follow when imposing a sentence on a conviction for a federal crime. Roughly seven years ago the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal sentencing guidelines are only advisory, not mandatory on federal courts.

After the high court ruling, federal judges could depart from the guidelines by exercising their judicial discretion to help ensure that a sentence met the facts of an individual case, whether the conviction was a federal drug crime or any federal offense.

Last year, the group that sets the guidelines recommended new provisions that would make sentencing in federal cocaine cases fairer. The U.S. Sentencing Commission recommended that new guidelines created under the Fair Sentencing Act should be applied retroactively. The FSA, signed in 2010, modified federal laws controlling crack cocaine and powder cocaine to improve fairness in drug crime cases involving one of the two forms of the drug.

Glendale police have arrested a man on a series of charges after a purportedly routine traffic stop. Law enforcement claims that they pulled the man over because he rolled through a stop sign in Glendale early Thursday morning. In the end, police booked the 34-year-old driver on suspicion of drug crimes, indecent exposure and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The purported stop sign violation occurred around 2:23 a.m. on Doverwood Drive. Glendale police say the man fled after an initial attempt to pull over his vehicle. However, police say that the man pulled over a short time later on Doverwood after police located his vehicle. Officers claim the man was not wearing any pants when they approached the vehicle.