New York State DEC

zach1

Member
you seriously need to think about what you are saying.... there was no overwhelming evidence, because cops don't deal with criminals. they're in the business of locking you up for as long as they can. the more serious the charge the better it is for their career.

given the circumstances you handled it about as bad as you could've. you signed a confession. that's in the US constitution, you don't HAVE to incriminate yourself, but you can CHOOSE to do it.



the best way to have handled it was to keep your mouth shut and not signed a confession. if you don't believe me talk to a lawyer. when he/she finds out you signed a confession they'll ask you why you did such a moronic thing.... believe it...
Maybe I put to much faith in the cops. I'm from a vary small town and have always had good experiences with the local law enforcement. Nothing this big before tho. The sheriff that busted me is a local dairy farmer as am I. The judge i'm going in front of lives up the road from my parents and his wife was my teacher in school. I have a hard time believing that there out to screw me as bad as your claiming. It just seemed a lot smarter at the time to deal with the sheriff then a state police investigator. I guess i'll find out how evil they are on my court date sep. 12. my biggest charge the class a misdemeanor for possession is only a max. fine of $100 no mention of jail time or any thing else.
 

growone

Well-Known Member
read through the thread, sorry for your bad day
i live in NY myself, so have some idea of the 'process'
all things considered, you may be in good shape, not that it is a sure thing
depends on the local DA/Judge and other members of the whore's circle who rape people like yourself legally
this is after the barn has burned, so to speak, but you did have an option(maybe)
if you had walked out, assuming you're weren't 20 miles from nowhere, then phoned in your vehicle had been stolen
that was one possibility, but that's water over the dam
vehicles can be a killer for the grower, it's a giant neon arrow pointing at the owner
 

forgetfulpenguin

Active Member
Next time get a radio (or other communications device [don't use CB obviously]) and someone you trust to drop you off and pick you up a good distance from the grow site. When you need a pickup just contact them with the location and they will come get you. If the cops show your vehicle won't be parked there. If you have to run from the cops (or they just don't see you) you can get a pickup from any road.

The smart burglars operate this way. A lot of times the cops will watch the thieves parked car and then confront them as they are walking toward it with the stolen goods. Having an accomplice do drop off/pickup keeps the cops from staking out the vehicle.
 

zach1

Member
Next time get a radio (or other communications device [don't use CB obviously]) and someone you trust to drop you off and pick you up a good distance from the grow site. When you need a pickup just contact them with the location and they will come get you. If the cops show your vehicle won't be parked there. If you have to run from the cops (or they just don't see you) you can get a pickup from any road.

The smart burglars operate this way. A lot of times the cops will watch the thieves parked car and then confront them as they are walking toward it with the stolen goods. Having an accomplice do drop off/pickup keeps the cops from staking out the vehicle.
That would be the ideal way to do it just no one else know I grow I try and keep a real low profile. I know a guy from my school days that lives in NYC and he buys every thing I grow so I fly solo when i'm growing. Also Growone I was about 15 miles from home I could of walked it but i was hoping I could talk my way out of it. The plants were at lest 3/4 of a mile off the logging road but that dog was amazing lead them right to the plants like it was nothing my sent trail was at lest 5 hours old.
 

zach1

Member
Also forgot to add after a lot of research I found a news article about a guy who had 3 of the DEC charges that i do and he was only fined $375 so maybe this wont be a pricey as i thought. That was for the dumping charges the ones that the officer said were going to be crazy.
 

Murfy

Well-Known Member
the arraignment is coming-

everything redivider said is true.

don't talk. don't be cocky. know your rights. in some states they CAN seize all property associated with the drug offense including that that they have deemed purchased by profits. just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't.

in the meantime assume you are surveilled. they are building a case against you now.
the prosecutor will try and show a DEAL. it will be bullshit.
most likely it will involve dropping 37 bullshit misdemeanors and class C's, to get you to plead to a manufacture charge. keep in mind. you can be charged at any time. when the prosecutor reviews the info, most likely there will be more charges, especially if witnessed fuckin up due to said surveillance.

is new york medical? you have a fair amount of reading to do.

good luck.
 

zach1

Member
the arraignment is coming-

everything redivider said is true.

don't talk. don't be cocky. know your rights. in some states they CAN seize all property associated with the drug offense including that that they have deemed purchased by profits. just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't.

in the meantime assume you are surveilled. they are building a case against you now.
the prosecutor will try and show a DEAL. it will be bullshit.
most likely it will involve dropping 37 bullshit misdemeanors and class C's, to get you to plead to a manufacture charge. keep in mind. you can be charged at any time. when the prosecutor reviews the info, most likely there will be more charges, especially if witnessed fuckin up due to said surveillance.

is new york medical? you have a fair amount of reading to do.

good luck.
I appreciate all the responses but has anyone been throw this first hand. I guess surveillance is possible its nothing but hay fields around my house tho i think i would notice a car staking out my house. I've watched all the barry copper and that lawyer's videos that redivider posted it seems like they play it up some to try and sell videos. I've been reading a lot of news articles about people in my area getting busted for growing many of them with 100's of plants all of them were just given appearance tickets like me unless guns were involved.
 

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Saw through your BS? They can see through it all they want but without evidence it is your grow what the fuck can they do. Sigh.
 

forgetfulpenguin

Active Member
From the bottom of my heart I wish you the best but I fear this may be a hard lesson for you and I don't want you to be psychologically unprepared for it. We are all pulling for you no matter what happens. My harsh words are only to prepare you for the harsh reality of your situation.

Before I say anything else let me give the OP some blunt advice. You are going to have to go to criminal court (that is what a DAT means), this is inevitable. The best thing you can do is act respectable. A modicum of restraint and respect goes a long way in court. Watch one of those judge programs and see how far the obnoxious person gets. Remember that you are submissive to the judge because if you piss the judge off it is game over. If they charge you with manufacturing at least 10lbs you are looking at up to 15 years (so say NORML). If they do use your confession to charge you with this then the judge is your best bet for having the sentence be far less then 15 years.

I appreciate all the responses but has anyone been throw this first hand.
No offense but I'd think most RIU members who confessed to growing are doing time so I don't think you'll get much in the way of first hand advice. Even if they did and are free I doubt they would be quick to publicly admit to confessing like that (though more power to them if they are willing to share).

Also just what the fuck is the advice of anyone on this forum going to do. You haven't even been arraigned (that is when the prosecution decides what to charge you with, let you enter a plea, and then set your bail) yet, you just got a DAT telling you when and where to get arraigned (honestly this could come down to what mood they are in). Until then it's a waiting game to see what the prosecution will do; advice or no advice.

I guess surveillance is possible its nothing but hay fields around my house tho i think i would notice a car staking out my house.
Why would they need to stakeout your house to keep an eye on you? The police know your name, your face, your address, what you drive, and that you are at least occasionally involved in drug related felonies. You can bet every cop is going to be keeping an eye out for you to up their tallies. Even if by some miracle they don't hit you with the confession you signed you're going to have most every cop scrutinizing and harassing you in hopes they will catch you slipping or provoke you into fleeing or fighting them. Never forget it's a numbers game and your now on their radar.

I've watched all the barry copper and that lawyer's videos that redivider posted it seems like they play it up some to try and sell videos.
Barry is a dumb ass. Only decent advice I've seen from cops is the book Arrest Proof Yourself (the authors immediately admit the title is hyperbolic) and that is because the book provides insight into how modern police think and hunt. I also have more confidence in the authors' motives.

I've been reading a lot of news articles about people in my area getting busted for growing many of them with 100's of plants all of them were just given appearance tickets like me unless guns were involved.
First you should be reading case law not news articles. Actually you should be desperately trying to get legal representation seeing as you are about to be arraigned and know next to nothing about the criminal justice system. You might not succeed with your budget but what the fuck you do you really have to lose by asking a bunch of lawyers if they will help pro bono publico (for the public good)? At least it will give you something to do while you wait for your arraignment to find out how fucked you are.

Second that ticket means you have to go to criminal court to be arraigned. The initial charge may be possession but there is nothing stopping the prosecution from using your confession to charge you with manufacture instead.

Think about it this way, the (increasingly privatized) criminal justice system needs increasing numbers of prisoners to provide growth and attracted investment. Why would they let you off the hook when it would be so easy to charge you with a class C felony for manufacture? They have a piece of paper that can reliably take you down for manufacture and put you away for years. Between the witnesses who saw you confess and the confession itself it's almost a sure thing. That means increased budgets for the LEO and more profits for the private companies (both from incarceration and the toys the LEO will buy with the bigger budgets).

Until you hit the statue of limitations (~7 years IIRC) or are charged with manufacture that confession can bite you in the ass anytime.

Again I must apologize for being so harsh. I understand this must be an extremely difficult and uncertain time for you. I only talk about the worst case scenario so you know what is the worst that can happen.
 

growone

Well-Known Member
the 15 miles was a bitch, i understand the choice to some extent
NY is a funny place, the upstate area(anywhere outside of NY/Long Island) can be surprisingly tolerant of small grows
and this is a small grow, kind of surprised of the amount of resources were put into it
usually, it's just a yank job unless the grower is unlucky enough to be in the neighborhood
 

zach1

Member
Thank you for all the info forgetfulpenguin I honestly don't know much about legal proceedings. I've been reading a lot and i'm starting to get nervous. I didn't understand that the DAT was the start to the criminal trial the word ticket throw me off I was thinking that i just show up to court and pay my fines but I guess its not that simple. I have a lawyer that dose my taxes and legal papers for my business I don't think he dose criminal trials but was hoping he could recommend some one in the area that has experiences with stuff like this. Every one on NORMAL is a few 100 miles from me. I have money for a lawyer from what I've read I think it worth the investment.
 

zach1

Member
the 15 miles was a bitch, i understand the choice to some extent
NY is a funny place, the upstate area(anywhere outside of NY/Long Island) can be surprisingly tolerant of small grows
and this is a small grow, kind of surprised of the amount of resources were put into it
usually, it's just a yank job unless the grower is unlucky enough to be in the neighborhood
I'm in the north country also a first time offender. Your idea about reporting the jeep stolen is great it just never crossed my mind in the heat of the moment. I ran the boilermaker last month i could of walked 15 miles I'm upset i didn't think of that. Like you said i'm out side of the city the amount of people that grow here is unreal its not uncommon to see people busted with 1000's of plants hopefully my 37 plants wont be a big deal. I'm the 3rd generation of my family that grows I've just never thought nothing of it I can't believe they would put some one in jail for carrying pails of water throw the woods. I've had grows cut down by the dec before and that was the end of it they never tried to catch me. This is all happening because some fat lady that lives in a trailer park that i go past to get in to the forest saw me coming out of the woods late a night a few times so she called the cops when she saw me go by Thur.
 

growone

Well-Known Member
i knew there was some snitch involved, snitch isn't probably the right word
and the lawyer part is what you will need, don't want to show up at the court like a lamb to the slaughter
but have hope too, NY is not in the mood for MJ/jail time, it's about the money
worst case, i think you get kicked over to drug court
 

zach1

Member
I could live with probation and fines but with being self employed jail time would be devastating even a week or two would be hard I don't know how i could do it I don't know if the judge/da would take that into consideration or not.
 

growone

Well-Known Member
I could live with probation and fines but with being self employed jail time would be devastating even a week or two would be hard I don't know how i could do it I don't know if the judge/da would take that into consideration or not.
they will take that into consideration, this is just what they want, a solid tax payer paying a bit more to the state
it gets my blood boiling to talk about it, there is no pretense that MJ is any danger to anyone
it's more of 'well, thats the law', which the corrupt bureaucracy keeps in place, they know where their paychecks come from
 
Top