Dallas Criminal Law Blog

In our previous post, we began discussing increasing concerns over the Mexican drug war, which is taking an enormous toll on lives. Cartels, by their definition, involve an explicit agreement between competing groups, but in the case of the Mexican drug war, there are multiple competing cartels. The whole enterprise is complex and involves a business superstructure that is sometimes impossible to track back. There are currently seven cartels in Mexico known to be competing for control of smuggling routes into the United States.

According to sources, American officials-noting of the ineffectiveness of the Mexican government against the activity-have sounded the alarm and warned that the drug war has the potential to threaten U.S. national security.

Our Dallas readers are no doubt aware of increasing over the activity of Mexican drug cartels. Along with increasing warnings from federal officials regarding the safety of travelling to the nation, there are increasing reports of cartel-related violence in numerous American cities.

In fact, Attorney General Eric Holder estimated earlier this month that nearly 48,000 have been killed in suspected drug-related violence in Mexico over the past five years. And over 5,000 people have disappeared in connection with the violence, not to mention the tens of thousands of orphaned children.

A grand jury in Dallas, Texas recently indicted a former National Football League player after a with a drug crime, claiming that he was attempting to join up with another individual to create a drug-dealing operation. The former player, who was recently cut by the Chicago Bears, was arrested last month after he was caught in a drug sting.

The man, who currently is 26 years old and has a permanent residence in San Antonio, currently lives in Chicago, where he was taken into police custody outside of a restaurant in mid-December. According to sources, he was placed under arrested after he tried to buy cocaine from an undercover police agent.

A Texas man spent 31 years behind bars until a judge recently came around and determined he did not belong there.

The man was initially locked up after being convicted of sexual assault of a stranger in 1981, remaining there until just recently. A judge weighed new evidence that was suppressed by prosecutors, which essentially proved that the conviction was a farce.

NFL Wide receiver Sam Hurd was locked up on drug possession after meeting with an undercover agent to make a deal for drugs. His teammates allegedly had no idea he was trying to set up a drug-dealing network. Hurd bought more than a pound of cocaine in the deal, but allegedly tried to set up a deal for five to ten kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week.

Hurd's high-profile attorney said that Hurd would fight the drug possession charges. He also told the Associated Press that he had not evaluated all of the information in the case and has successfully defended others with the odds stacked against them. Hurd had no comment as he was led away in handcuffs.

A federal jury convicted two of at least 12 conspirators of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Several men, including the two convicted and an alleged leader of the group, ran a scheme to steal from the nation's biggest telecommunications companies. The $20 million crime spree came to an end because of evidence gathered from the homes of the conspirators and from businesses.

Evidence consisted of a list -- a table of contents -- that was 76 pages long. Each page contained about 30 items to be presented to the court as evidence. Evidence included financial documents, contracts, emails and invoices. The emails discussed topics such as burning cash, hiding spam, avoiding detection, "flaming ferrets" and due process.

Statistics just reported by the FBI indicate that many violent crimes are substantially down this year, with the occurrence of murder, robbery, and rape decreasing over time. Overall, violent crimes reportedly declined by approximately 6.5 percent in 2011, indicating that the decrease in such incidents over the prior five year period continues unimpeded.

Factors cited by some experts commenting on the statistics include the imposition of harsher sentences of incarceration, the aging of the population, and more money being spent on crime prevention measures by police. The statistics also show that the number of rapes reported in Dallas, Texas during the initial six months of this year declined by a significant 22 percent over the year before.

Our readers may be familiar with the country singer Rodney Atkins. He's famous for songs like "If You're Going Through Hell," Watching You," and These Are My People." The singer, who has enjoyed success in his musical career, has recently experienced a downward spiral with respect to his marriage. Atkins was recently accused by his wife of domestic violence.

According to court records, Atkins' wife of 13 years called police and accused the singer of attempting to suffocate her with a pillow during a night-long argument before which Atkins had been drinking. The altercation apparently took place on November 21. She also accused him of throwing her down the hall. Police arrested Atkins after the dispute and later released him on bail.