Yes, You Can Still Get Criminal Charges If You Act As A Confidential Informant
The media narrative on confidential informants tends to be that they are snitches who avoid criminal prosecution, but because they have betrayed their friends, they can trust no one. In fact, it is often possible to dissociate yourself from illegal activities without telling all of your friends’ secrets to people who would use this information against them. Likewise, cooperating with a criminal investigation does not always mean that you get complete immunity from prosecution, leaving you free to break the law as many times as you wish without consequences. You may even have seen movies about criminal investigations, with or without a grain of truth, about serial killers smoking weed (before decriminalization) or driving drunk in the presence of police detectives just to make the game of cat and mouse more interesting. If you are communicating with law enforcement about a criminal investigation, whether or not you have formally been charged, it is best to assume that anything you say can and will be used against you. The one person with whom you can speak freely about your case is a Pittsburgh drug crime lawyer.
Snitches Get a New Criminal Case?
Acting as a confidential informant is not for the faint of heart. If you agree to act as a confidential informant for a drug crime investigation, you get a plea deal, but then you have to go back and interact with your own drug buddies while acting as if nothing is going on. You discuss drug deals with the knowledge that the police hear everything. Since the police hear everything, they also find out about violations of the law that they did not authorize you to commit or to pretend to commit. If possible, get a plea deal that does not require you to act as an informant, or better yet, plead not guilty and fight your charges.
In the News
In the fall of 2023, Stephen Majoros III was acting as a confidential informant in a drug crime investigation. As part of a controlled buy, he bought heroin from Breanna Turner at a residence in Altoona. The two exchanged the drugs on a walkway beside the house, and Majoros snorted some of the heroin. By the time he arrived back at the police station where he had agreed to meet the police officers, he was showing signs of opioid overdose, even though he told police he had not consumed any of the drugs he had bought from Turner, and he was transported to a hospital. Majoros and Tucker were both arrested. Even though Turner is the one facing charges for conspiracy to distribute and manufacture drugs, Majoros’s bail amount is higher.
Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases
A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing drug charges even after agreeing to cooperate with an investigation in the role of a confidential informant. Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.
Source:
wtaj.com/crime/police-informant-odd-on-drugs-he-was-buying-from-altoona-woman-both-arrested/
