Four Family Members Arrested in Polk County Drug Bust
If you look for them, you can find scenarios where the courts have acted as though family is an antidote to illicit drug use, and in ideal circumstances, it is. Judges in pretrial diversion programs have ordered defendants facing charges to live with their parents. Living with one’s parents can also be a condition of a probation sentence; probation officers have heard defendants tell of the comforts of home, but also of the hassles and frustrations of having to live under someone else’s roof as an adult. Of course, almost anyone who gets arrested for drug crimes will tell of their troubled family history, if only you will listen. Your family situation might make it harder to stay away from drugs. Your own family members might struggle with addiction themselves, or else their unstable situation might otherwise place you in environments where drugs are available. To testify that the drugs that the police found in your house belong to a member of your immediate family and not to you is to be in an unenviable position indeed. If you are facing criminal charges after police found drugs in the house where you live with your family, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.
When Police Say That Your Multigenerational Household Is a Drug House
In December 2024, neighbors complained to police that Nichole Rizzo’s house in Polk County was a site of drug activity. When police executed a search warrant at the residence, they found evidence of methamphetamine distribution, even though the neighbors had originally alleged that residents of the house were distributing fentanyl and counterfeit prescription opioids. For example, they found methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia such as pipes and scales with drug residue.
The police arrested nine people, including Rizzo, her sons Jacob and Daniel, and her daughter Hailey for conspiracy to distribute illicit drugs. Jacob Rizzo is also facing charges for tampering evidence, and two of the other people present in the house, Deanna Olin and Stacy Vondrasek, are facing charges for resisting arrest.
In cases where police arrest multiple people in connection to the same incident or while executing the same search warrant, the outcome of each case is separate. For example, if police already have an outstanding arrest warrant against one of the defendants, he or she will face the old and new charges, but the other defendant’s old charges have no bearing on your case. Likewise, prosecutors, as well as a jury if you plead not guilty, will eventually evaluate the evidence about your individual role in the alleged crime. In this case, as the children of Nichole Rizzo are young adults, it can count in their favor if they have never had a previous encounter with the criminal justice system. It can also happen where family members will accept blame for themselves in order to shift the blame away from a younger relative who has no criminal history, to spare him or her from having to serve a prison sentence.
Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases
A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are a defendant in a drug case that began with a drug bust at your family home. Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
newsbreak.com/news/3728200816516-mother-and-children-among-10-arrested-in-polk-county-drug-bust
