Atlantic City Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

With spring in full bloom and prom just around the corner, many New Jersey high school students are preparing for graduation and anticipating new thrilling experiences in the future. One common experience many teens have indulged in is alcohol. It is estimated that in the past month, 10 million people under the age of 21 have consumed alcohol in America. A seemingly harmless crime has cost many teens anguish and despair. Recently several teens join this demographic after police crashed an underage drinking party.

After a teen's parents went out of town for a graduation, an underage drinking party soon followed. When police arrived late at night, they discovered that "a large quantity of alcohol was observed inside of the house and it was determined that those present were being issued wrist bands upon paying an admission fee." After police raided the house, 17 juveniles were charged with underage drinking and 14 more were brought into protective custody. Four teens were also hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. Additional charges are still pending.

Just about every New Jersey teen has likely been tempted by alcohol at some point or another. From drinking at a college party to stealing booze from parents, underage drinking continues to occur throughout the nation. With one of the highest drinking ages in the world, the US frowns upon minors drinking alcohol. Now that spring has arrived and with prom coming up, many underage teens may choose experiment with alcohol.

What may seem like an innocuous offense has caused serious harm to many young New Jersey residents. Being a minor in consumption of alcohol is a serious offense. It can land athletes off the sports team, derail college plans and cost a lot of money. Underage drinking can also be physically damaging, especially to a young developing brain. Non-profit groups like Shaping Summit Together have made it their mission to prevent underage drinking by helping spread awareness. The group recently noted that April was alcohol awareness month, but encouraged the same awareness of the issues throughout the year.

When most Americans think of theft, they may think of cinematic robberies of expensive jewelry heists or bandits breaking into Fort Knox. Those crimes against property rarely happen, however. Theft more commonly involves smartphones, purses or other personal property. Cases of fraudulent businesses also regularly make headlines. A New Jersey husband and wife face theft charges after allegedly making over $700,000 in a fake travel business.

The couple had supposedly opened eight different fake travel businesses all over New Jersey. Their purported scheme was offering membership packages to clients and collecting fees for services that were never performed. Between fake promotional airfares or cheap cruises, the couple reportedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars. They now face charges including money laundering, conspiracy and theft by deception. If convicted, the pair could face 30 years behind bars and fines up to a staggering $1 million.

In most cop movies or detective fiction novels, the protagonist and his or her team of FBI agents attempt to catch the drug-dealing bad guys and lock them away for good. In reality, most of these "bad guys" are not as insidious as the movies or television make them out to be. In many cases, individuals accused of drug crimes get mixed up with the wrong crowd or are forced to join a gang to support their families. After an undercover investigation, police recently arrested 15 New Jersey residents for various drug crimes after seizing $20,000 worth of cocaine and heroin.

"Operation Double Threat" is what police called their latest undercover operation that they used to unravel a New Jersey drug ring. The operation started by having undercover police officers pose as a drug addicts who were sent to various residences of the accused in order to buy cocaine and heroin until they had gathered enough evidence to issue a search warrant. After searching many of the vehicles and residences of the accused, police discovered at least $8,000 worth of cocaine and $14,000 worth of heroin. They arrested nine individuals for arranging to buy narcotics and six others for selling and supplying drugs.