The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 12: I Was Entrapped!
Entrapment pg 7: Police Participation
One of his young protégés, Solid Saul, is one of his most trusted workers. For two years now, Saul has proven his value time and again, so Sylvester just gave him his own spot to run—an apartment where Saul will be responsible for moving 2 kilos per week.
Sylvester shaking Saul’s hands and giving him keys, in front of apartment door, Saul holding two bricks of whatever.
SYLVESTER
I’m proud of you, Sollie.
A few days later, two busloads of cops raided Sylvester’s buildings, arresting everybody.
SWAT-looking cops marching Sylvester, another man, and a tiny old lady in old-fashioned clothes
OTHER GUY
Even Grandma?
SYLVESTER
Well, she is my best lookout…
It seems that Saul was an undercover cop the whole time! And now Sylvester’s being prosecuted for the kilos that Saul was going to sell. (Conspiracy, accomplice liability, and all that.)
Sylvester looking suspicious
SYLVESTER
No way. The police can’t break the law and then charge me with their own crime.
What proof would there be that Solid Saul was actually selling the drugs, Sly?
You gave him product, he came back with money. I’m guessing it’s not a crime for a cop to handle evidence in the process of an investigation. After all he’s not moving drugs for himself, he’s doing it on behalf of the state.
If he _was_ selling drugs to maintain his cover, that would probably be very illegal.
Moving drugs on behalf of the state? I’d rephrase that… :-)
How likely is it in reality that they would wait two years before making the bust? It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, seeing as they would presumably have enough for a warrant as soon as he walked in the door. The longer they wait, the more likely he is to get discovered.
It can easily take that long to build a case against a whole organization. Especially one with many layers and players. It’s not unusual at all.
You get a warrant, all you’ve got is whatever (and whoever) you chance to find inside the location at the time you execute. Similarly, a quick buy-and-bust only gets you the guy who made the sale, and whatever quantity happened to be sold that one time.
A long-term investigation builds evidence piece by piece against lots of people, for lots of crimes. Instead of a one-shot crime, it reveals conspiracies and courses of conduct that can be charged more seriously than any isolated offense. Investigations like that can involve informants, undercovers, field surveillance, wiretaps, data analysis, etc. etc. Usually, search warrants are saved for the very end of the investigation, because they kind of give it away.
Saul. Saul? SAAAAAAAAAAAAUL!