Drug convict to get back cellphone, cash

A teenager identified as a member of the "Jersey Boys" gang that has been the focus of a police crackdown in the Springfield area won a small victory in court this week.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20130810/NEWS02/708109946

Print Email Published August 10, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Drug convict to get back cellphone, cash By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A teenager identified as a member of the “Jersey Boys” gang that has been the focus of a police crackdown in the Springfield area won a small victory in court this week. Daniel “Flip” Morales, 18, of Jersey City, N.J., successfully petitioned the court for the return of his cellphone and $151 in cash he was carrying when he was arrested in April and eventually charged with possession of heroin and cocaine. Morales began serving a yearlong sentence in June after pleading guilty to the felony heroin possession charge in exchange for the state dropping the cocaine charge. Springfield Police detectives said Morales was a passenger in a car full of suspects and drugs that was stopped by police April 3 at 1:30 a.m. Morales was not initially searched, police said, but the drugs were found stuffed under the table he’d been sitting at inside an interview room at the police station. State’s Attorney David Cahill drew some dry laughter in White River Junction criminal court this week over Morales’ claim to the cellphone and money. He said Morales had written zeroes under “assets” when he’d filled out court forms requesting a public defender. “If Mr. Morales does not own anything, then he must not own that cellphone or that cash,” Cahill said to Judge Robert Gerety. Morales’ defense attorney, Dan Sedon, said Cahill’s argument was “too clever by half.” Sedon said a teenager would not consider a cellphone and “an ordinary amount of money” to be assets worthy of mention when considering whether he could afford a lawyer. Gerety ordered police to turn the items over to Sedon for safekeeping because Morales is not allowed to have a phone or cash in jail. After his conviction in June, Morales has been arraigned on three new felony counts. Police said that even before his arrest in April, Morales sold heroin and crack cocaine to police informants. He faces up to 20 more years behind bars if convicted.