CA-My apartment manager was busted for drugs

[CelticOm]

There is a woman living across from me who is 82 years old. She is already paying $800, and she cannot just pick up and move and have her rent go up by $400. That's what has happened to 1-bedroom apartments in our area since she moved here. This is L.A.!

 

[CourtClerk]

I found this partial paragraph from a California attorney's site: "For example, a first-time offender convicted of possessing with intent to deliver 100 grams to 5 kilograms of heroin will receive a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison (the sentence can be as high as forty years)."

Can you find something a little more credible than an attorney's advertisement for their services? I've seen attorney's who can stretch TRAFFIC tickets to make them sound like you can spend a year in jail... Yes, the sentence can probably be as high as 40 years, but how many times do you have to do it and is there any legal precidence to impose a 40 year sentence? And do you have any idea how much 5 kilograms of heroin is?????

Now, I don't know if it was heroin, and I don't know the quantity. But still - 11378 is defined as "possession for sale of dangerous drugs such as PCP, LSD, ketamine or methamphetamine." Sounds pretty serious, and I don't think he spent even one day behind bars. And doesn't it have to be a certain amount in order to rise to the level of "intent to sell"?

5 tiny little baggies and I've seen people charged with possession with intent. Doesn't make it stick. You're reaching here. Reaching FAR. You don't even know what the circumstances of the case are and you're ready to make him part of the Noriega Drug Cartel.

 

[CdwJava]

Not possession. He was convicted of 11378, which is possession for sale. The new charge is just a possession charge. I'm not surprised he got off on that new one, but I am amazed that you can be convicted of sales and not do a single day in jail - he was managing the apartment at the time of the conviction, and he was never gone from here. So much for time served.

It happens all the time for possession and for sales in CA. As I said, it is rare that anyone does prison time for dope possession or low level sales here.

As for time served, if he was ever in custody - even due to the arrest - that can count. Typically, they receive probation, pay fines, and have to attend counseling. But, it might vary by county.

If you go on Google, you can find all sorts of information on mandatory sentencing, both federal and state. I can't find the link that showed the actual mandatory sentences for sale of controlled substances.

11378 is typically for meth or cocaine ... to my knowledge these do not have mandatory minimums in CA.

You would think the landlord would be concerned about knowingly employing a convicted drug dealer as manager. Liability issues or something. Personally, I don't care if the guy wants to sell drugs, as long as he isn't bringing his customers here.

Apparently the landlord does NOT care ... the question then becomes, what will you do now? Your options are limited, and moving is the only really viable one.


- Carl

 

[CourtClerk]

There is a woman living across from me who is 82 years old. She is already paying $800, and she cannot just pick up and move and have her rent go up by $400. That's what has happened to 1-bedroom apartments in our area since she moved here. This is L.A.!

Yeah...I live in Cerritos. If you want to move, you move. Some of us don't have (and won't have) the liberty of rent control...

 

[CourtClerk]

11378 is typically for meth or cocaine ... to my knowledge these do not have mandatory minimums in CA.

You are correct.

 

[CdwJava]

I found this partial paragraph from a California attorney's site: "For example, a first-time offender convicted of possessing with intent to deliver 100 grams to 5 kilograms of heroin will receive a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison (the sentence can be as high as forty years)."

Now, I don't know if it was heroin, and I don't know the quantity. But still - 11378 is defined as "possession for sale of dangerous drugs such as PCP, LSD, ketamine or methamphetamine." Sounds pretty serious, and I don't think he spent even one day behind bars. And doesn't it have to be a certain amount in order to rise to the level of "intent to sell"?

11378 does not include heroin.

And it is very doubtful he was involved in the sales of 100 grams (more than 3 1/2 ounces) or more of meth. or cocaine (etc.). Your typical sales case consists of a few grams, maybe some packaging material, maybe some scales, and maybe some money ... they are not almost four ounces to 220 lbs. as the section you cited referred to.

- Carl

 

[CelticOm]

Okay, thanks everyone. At least now I know. And as I said, personally I don't care what people do on their own time as long as no one else gets hurt - and no, I don't think this guy is part of a cartel - but when you've lived in a beautiful, peaceful place for 10 years and suddenly it's overrun by people of questionable character as soon as a new manager takes over, it's a bit upsetting. We've had cars broken into and 3 tenants have had their identities stolen, probably because people are running in and out of his apartment where all our personal information and keys are. None of this stuff ever happened here before. And you're right, clearly the landlord cares more about his god-son than about his tenants. C'est la vie.

 

[CelticOm]

Sheesh, yeah, I didn't really think about how much 100 grams actually is, and I doubt it was that much. Still, as I understand it, the cops were surveilling him here for several weeks, and a whole bunch of them busted into his apartment, took several bags of evidence, maced his dog mad:, she is a harmless little thing), and took away him and his roommate in handcuffs. So evidently, they thought he was a fairly significant player. We really thought he wouldn't be back for a while, if at all. It also looks like they impounded his car, because it's been gone since that day. Just seemed like it was a pretty big deal, and then the next day - boom, there he was right back on the property like nothing happened.

 

[CdwJava]

He probably raised the bail money ... or, the DA didn't find enough evidence to support the charge at the time. It very often happens that the bad guy is out before the report is written.

- Carl

 

[las365]

We've had cars broken into and 3 tenants have had their identities stolen, probably because people are running in and out of his apartment where all our personal information and keys are. None of this stuff ever happened here before.

Your evidence so far is circumstantial, but it seems to me that the property owner/landlord has a duty to the tenants to reasonably safeguard their personal information and access to their units. And a drug-dealing apartment manager who brings all kinds of lowlife traffic to the place isn't filling the bill.

Is it possible that the owner is unaware of what the godson/manager is up to? From reading these boards, iy sounds to me as if CA has some pretty strict L/T laws. Why not talk to a landlord/tenant attorney, or the city/county/state agency that regulates housing, to see if there is any recourse for you and the other tenants?

 

[smutlydog]

Sheesh, yeah, I didn't really think about how much 100 grams actually is, and I doubt it was that much. Still, as I understand it, the cops were surveilling him here for several weeks, and a whole bunch of them busted into his apartment, took several bags of evidence, maced his dog mad:, she is a harmless little thing), and took away him and his roommate in handcuffs. So evidently, they thought he was a fairly significant player. We really thought he wouldn't be back for a while, if at all. It also looks like they impounded his car, because it's been gone since that day. Just seemed like it was a pretty big deal, and then the next day - boom, there he was right back on the property like nothing happened.

If he was dealing in large amounts you would see very little if any traffic. He may be a snitch and that's why he may not be afraid of being sloppy. Street dealers normally walk if they find 3 dealers to set up. At some point he will run out of friends to snitch on or his addiction will get the best of him. Look at the county files and see if you see a pattern of dismissed cases.

 

[CdwJava]

Ya know, I keep hearing that 3 dealers thing and I have to say it just ain't true ... at least not universally. And even if someone is a snitch, it is NOT a get out of jail free card. There are a number of legal reasons not to let your informant get away with committing felonies as it tends to cause problems in court.

- Carl