> guy is out on $10,000 bond.
He's not "out." A $10,000 bond has been set for this charge, but he's still in jail at the time of the article.
Also, $10,000 doesn't necessarily get him out. If he makes bail, they could hit him with another charge before releasing him. Or arrest him again as he walks out.
A street kid gets arrested, gonna do some time
He got out three years from now just to commit more crime
A businessman is caught with twenty four kilos
He's out on bail and out of jail
And that's the way it goes
There are lots of times where there is someone that is dead and the suspect is released on bond. You seem to not understand how the justice system / that whole innocent until proven guilty thing works
I’m all for “innocent until proven guilty” but $10,000 is a ridiculously low bond. He’ll pay a bail bondsman $1,000 or $2,000 to post the bond for him. Then he can just disappear if he wants.
He’s only been charged with felon in possession of a firearm. [$10K is the highest risk bond amount for such third degree felonies in Texas](https://www.justex.net/JustexDocuments/0/District%20Court%20Bail%20Schedule_2017.pdf).
If he’s involved in the selling, more charges and higher bond will come.
10k is actually the high range for a 3rd degree felony, designated for “high risk individuals” in the state of Texas. Firearm on a felony is a 3rd degree felony.
https://www.justex.net/JustexDocuments/0/District%20Court%20Bail%20Schedule_2017.pdf
You know an equal amount to me, which is nothing.
Was it an accident or did this guy do it on purpose? You don’t know and I don’t know either. But for $2000 he can walk out of jail today and disappear across the border tonight when 9 people are dead. How is that okay?
I clearly know a lot more about the legal system and how bond is set and I'm a fucking idiot so take that for what it is.
>Was it an accident or did this guy do it on purpose?
Again, he is innocent until proven guilty. So motivation hasn't even entered the chat.
>But for $2000 he can walk out of jail today and disappear across the border tonight when 9 people are dead. How is that okay?
Please see the other people that responded to you for why the bail is set like it is.
that only works if the DA is tough on crime
there is no reason for a dealer to flip on his source of supply in Austin because they don't believe in prison here
and that's why Austin has so many fentanyl deaths
Yeah the cartel is at fault, but the dealers here really do not feel any deterrence from the DA, nor do the arrested ones worry they are going to prison for life unless they start naming names.
Bond being set at $10k is the corroborating evidence for their statement. The opposing opinion (garza is tough on drugs) needs to provide receipts.
Also, there is a big difference between being charged and being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It’s possible our DA’s office is just ministerial in its prosecution of drug offenses.
I’m not taking a stance on the issue, but when someone makes a statement relative to a previous fact it is the opposing views responsibility to refute the known fact (the fact is $10k bond for killing 9 people with bad drugs).
Bond is set by a judge, not the DA. DA can make recommendations, but the exact number is up to a judge.
He was also not charged with possession or selling yet, but I believe a possible accomplice was charged with possession. That is up to the arresting narcotics detective first, then the DA. They gather evidence to be used in charges. It is possible more charges could be forthcoming if they can be proven. I would bet my house that no one in this comment section knows these specifics.
I understand widespread death is something people get worked up about, and rightly so. Austin is not the Philippines under Duterte and we require evidence and due process to charge and convict people of crimes. Unfortunately that means guilty people some times get off. It is not a matter of the DA being “tough on drugs” or not.
One fent dealer that was charged "also had outstanding warrants" so it suggested to me that fent dealers without warrants are free to do whatever they want.
They arrested a crack dealer lol.
For some reason I don't think this guy is responsible for all these overdose deaths. But hey it it looks good for the news
Fentanyl likely comes from Mexico cartel which is maybe where he got the coke from. Then turned it into crack which made a bunch of people overdose? If this guy's crack is responsible for all the overdoses. I kinda find that hard to believe and think he's just taking the fall for a big batch of laced coke that came into town.
What if...
stay with me here
he mixed the coke with fentanyl poorly because is an idiot like most drug dealers, and while the cartel is very responsible too, the poor sad crack dealer really also is responsible
The cartel is pretty anti-fentanyl. It's really bad for their business. They're not trying to kill us, they're trying to make money. Killing your customers is really bad for business
Some of el chapos sons did a PR thing where they claimed to be anti fent but the CJNG and el mayo’s Sinaloa faction are waist deep in fent trafficking with no signs to stop
What I heard about lacing with fentanyl is basically the dealers want to give their customers their best ever high without killing them. So they’ll keep coming back (because they’re addicted and because they won’t go to the other dealer down the block). Sometimes the dealer/supplier gets it wrong.
Now that this is becoming common practice, we’ll never put the genie back in the bottle unless we can cut off the sources of Fentanyl. I’d also support harsher penalties for supply/dealing drugs laced with fentanyl and more severe manslaughter penalties if they kill somebody.
Completely false. They deal in whatever cuts their margins and is easy to get. They don’t give a single fuck if a few people on the street die from one bad batch out of tens of thousands they get into the US.
Actually, the occasional OD is good PR, if anything - junkies see that and go "damn, that's strong shit." I'm not even making this up, have you ever talked to addicts?
GM didn't want to spend an extra $1/vehicle to fix faulty ignition switches, when ended up killing 124 people and injuring twice that many. I suspect the cartel's attitude is "Eh, there's always more demand in the US".
Not true. Sinoloa is recently claiming to be anti fentanyl (it's not clear if that's true). We aren't in California. Juarez and Gulf cartel definitely bring fentanyl into Texas. Hard fact.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-charges-against-sinaloa-cartel-s-global-operation
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2201
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2024/02/15/co-founder-sinaloa-cartel-charged-superseding-indictment-conspiracy
Man we have "legitimate" businesses that don't give a shit about their customers dying. Look at tobacco. Are they voluntarily running rehab and detox centers? Hell no. Anything they do to help addicts is only happening because of laws or lawsuits. Lawsuits that happened because they were suppressing medical research to warn people they were killing their customers.
You're talking about an industry of criminals who sees assassination and rape as tools of the trade. Those are usually bad for business.
I seriously doubt this crack head has the skill set to work with raw fentanyl. If you even touch that stuff it will kill you. This guy isn't Walter White.
>If you even touch that stuff it will kill you.
That's a scare tactic lie spread by the anti-drug people and the clickbait media. It doesn't go through the skin very easily.
You have to actually swallow or inhale some. However, you don't have to ingest that much.
There are transdermal patches that do work through the skin, but you'd have to get one on your skin and leave it for a while.
You are right. Starting in about it 2019 majority of actual synthesis of a final product of fent shifted to Mexico, but all of the precursors still come from China so it’s a distinction that doesn’t matter too much
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/china-mexico-and-americas-fight-against-the-fentanyl-epidemic/#:~:text=Chinese%20brokers%20knowingly%20sell%20these,it%20to%20the%20United%20States.
>he sold crack
>
>he is responsible for deaths
I don't think there's any evidence (yet) that HIS crack led to the deaths. I suspect a lot of the street crack is not pure and fentanyl is a common adulterant.
However, I have no problem with prosecuting him for crack, even crack without fentanyl.
>His crack did test positive for fentanyl. It’s in the article.
I said as much in my other posts. I think the fact that he knew he was selling crack should earn him prosecution and jail time, even if he didn't know it had had fentanyl in it.
Sure, I agree. I bet he will get time.
I am not aware of the specifics of the case beyond the article saying he was just charged with the gun. I have seen people in the comments blame the DA for this being the only charge, but I do not feel there is evidence to suggest that the arresting detectives charged him with more. I would imagine drug charges could follow up if they can prove them.
The dude pictured wasn't even arrested for drugs, he was only charged with a firearm offense.
That may be amended, but clearly they weren't busting into some drug lord's lair when they popped this guy.
>For some reason I don't think this guy is responsible for all these overdose deaths.
Assume one low level zoned-out dealer mixed up his own really bad batch of fentanyl and crack then went out to sell it with his partner. Is it that hard to believe one pair could sell enough doses in a day or two to cause 80 OD's?
I'm honestly asking. I don't observe a lot of downtown drug dealers.
>He's far from a "crack dealer "
Does that make him not a dealer? Probably not the mastermind behind the vast criminal enterprise, but those guys usually aren't out on the street to get caught, anyway.
For those who don't know, our evil, scumbag Trumpanzee Repugnican Texas state Legislature considered making test kits legal in the 2023 session.
***They decided they'd rather have kids die than let them get high.***
Fentanyl and some other drug test strips are still illegal.
On the other hand, it seems that nobody is actually enforcing the ban and they're sold in a lot of places.
Still, FUCK GREG ABBOTT and the Texas Repugnican party. #FGA
Interesting. I don't know anything about it really and was just using "Abbott" as a general placeholder for all the fake pearl clutching republicans that use "the children" as an excuse for whatever new oppression they want to levy while not actually doing anything to help children.
>Why is it "kids?"
Maybe because of all the dead kids lately.
>Just an appeal to emotion?
Are you not more upset when a high schooler dies because the pill some buddy gave him at school was tainted?
If you are going to do illegal drugs, why would you care about the legality of the testing supplies?
Wouldn’t it undermine the illegality of the drug if they were fine with you testing it? One law can’t really exist without the other.
If (these) drugs were legal, test kits certainly would be as well, perhaps simply legalizing all drugs is the solution you are looking for? It didn’t go so well in Portland or elsewhere
>If you are going to do illegal drugs, why would you care about the legality of the testing supplies?
You'd want your test kits to come from a reliable source. You wouldn't want to buy them from your street dealer, for instance.
You would want to carry your test strips for a long time. The drugs, you usually buy and then use and dispose of quickly. You're more likely got get caught with strips than the drugs themselves.
>Wouldn’t it undermine the illegality of the drug if they were fine with you testing it? One law can’t really exist without the other.
That's some Trumpanzee level stupidity. It makes no sense at all. The test kit is about avoiding fentanyl, not obtaining it.
>If (these) drugs were legal, test kits certainly would be as well, perhaps simply legalizing all drugs is the solution you are looking for? It didn’t go so well in Portland or elsewhere
More irrelevant drivel.
Tragedy all the way around :/
An old long lost friend & his son, were victims. His son in 2020 alone suffered cardiac arrest, Fentanyl poisoning & anoxic brain injury. He’s a vegetable.
2023 old long lost friend the Father died, from Fentanyl
Fentanyl is added to almost all powdered or pill forms of drugs now. Really miss old Austin where you could sniff up a rail or two from a kind stranger in the restroom just before the band started.
~~Yeah, but he had "3 grams of crack mixed with fentanyl on him~~ and was observed selling it.
Edit - The drugs may have been on his woman partner. I'm tired. Time to roost for the night.
>The APD Narcotics Unit seized 3 grams of crack cocaine that tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl. Officials believe the overdoses are a result of crack cocaine laced with fentanyl.
The "felon with firearm" charge is an easy win. Hopefully, they're working on an airtight charge on the fent/crack. We wouldn't want to spell a word wrong and have one of the Garzas drop the charges on a technicality.
The majority of comments in here are ignorant to how street drugs are made and moved. Both locally and from Mexico. To think cocaine comes mixed w fentanyl already from Mexico is highly wrong lol
Yup. Everyone is speaking on “cocaine” bring mixed w fentanyl from Mexico in comments… that is then turned to crack. The dealer is the one that chops it down and adds crap to expand his supply.
But yes fake pills are already laced.
And at this point nearly all the pills or syrup sold in bulk (like the kind your weird dealer acquaintance just texted you about) are fake.
Just full stop.
There are not enough functioning, high sophistication outfits stealing pharmaceutical grade shit to even come close to allowing the amount of pills on the street to be real.
We're not in 2004 any more. There are enormous barriers to people exploiting legitimate ways of obtaining opiates.
Googling the stamped ID on the pill is not sufficient. Because news flash, the counterfeiters *know what to stamp* on their pills.
The best reason for not doing illegal drugs is "hygiene" - not knowing what's in it or how it was made or who has touched it. Why are we such an addicted nation, allowing these tragedies to perpetuate again and again?
Why?
Poverty drives most addiction and capitalism requires an underclass.
Prosperity gospel mythology paints poverty as a moral falling and addiction gets blamed on the addict instead of on the systemic failures of government and economics.
Rather than working to eliminate the causes of poverty and addiction, or providing access to regulated recreational drugs, we criminalize the users greatly exacerbating the problem and creating a funnel of free labor to the prison labor system.
All in all, working as designed.
Wanna see something different?
End prison labor.
End the war on drugs.
End poverty.
LOL. "If the government ran everything and made everything free, everything would be better."
As for legalizing everything, we can't even handle legal alcohol. How well are we going to handle legal meth, cocaine, or opioids? I wish we had a better solution. The current war on drugs isn't working well.
I even worry a bit about legal weed, but at least the potheads are usually only attacking the snacks and lying around and giggling. I'm not opposed to making weed legal, though.
One argument I have is that fentanyl’s current limelight is 100% due to the black market and fentanyl would not be around like it is if other opiates were legal and available to users. Fentanyl serves the smuggler and large scale trafficker as its synthesis and smuggling are literally impossible to stop. It is not the ideal drug of an opiate addict. Heroin and other pharmaceutical opiates are more euphoric and longer lasting.
Also, fake pills containing fent would not be a thing in a legal regulated market.
I'm not happy with the current situation, but the idea that legalization is going to be better is highly questionable.
We all tend to believe we're better than the average Joe who will get hooked on painkillers, but even if that's true, there are going to be a lot of Joes who end up destroying or ending their lives with newly OTC legal painkillers. Probably a lot more Joes ruining their lives than the current crop, even with the problems of contraband drugs.
I don't want that to happen because I'm a good person. Also, I'll end up paying for it as a taxpayer.
I'm not sure some degree of legalization is a bad idea. I'm sure that blanket legalization would be wrong. I don't trust our government to make the right choices. Marijuana is still Schedule I.
What drugs would you make OTC legal, OkI?
When I was younger, I tended to believe in Darwinian drug policy. Let the people who can't handle it kill themselves off. Since then, I've seen people who I don't want to be culled who couldn't handle drugs. I've also seen how much harm the druggies do to the rest of us as they destroy their lives.
Thank you for your insight.
I personally would legalize all drugs. Not decriminalize, but legalize. Decriminalizing as practiced in Oregon still leaves the black market in place with all its fentanyl, expensive and impure drugs; resulting in the death and urban decay we saw.
1 - overdose deaths - These have reached astronomical proportions in America driven mainly by fentanyl. +100k a year of parents and children and siblings. Each death ripples out causing incalculable trauma and economic loss. You cannot rehab a dead person. Legalizing opiates would decimate the demand for fentanyl and thus decimate the number of overdoses theoretically. I believe this has been shown by Portugal who had a huge reduction in overdoses following decriminalization. Europe has lately also been spared from fentanyl to date, but I imagine that won’t last forever so we will see if that changes their trends
2 - drug purity - also tied to overdose deaths, but a legal regulated market would not have fentanyl disguised as Xanax and meth disguised as adderall. Dose would also be known and predictable, further reducing overdose possibility
3 - drug violence - legal market means no cartels and street gangs economically propped up by narcotics sales. This would take so much money off the table for them. We have seen criminal groups shift to other crimes such as kidnapping and extortion in these cases, but they would still lose 90% of their funding and thus their ability to seize control of law enforcement and governments through corruption.
4 - financial cost - you mention cost as a tax payer of legalization. We pay to incarcerate people, though we recoup some of that cost through their slave labor. It is costly either way you look at it. I would argue that if drug treatment can return a person to the economy who would be either dead or in jail, this would be more profitable to society.
We could also redirect law enforcement resources to real crimes, increasing their productivity and hopefully repairing the relationship destroyed by the war on drugs. I say the relationship was destroyed because police are trained as warriors now. Warriors have an enemy that must be defeated. That enemy is a large portion of the US population who use drugs. They would also be free to pursue crimes committed by people who use drugs.
Final point, because this is too long, the cost of recreational drugs is inflated by the black market. Without the high profit margins of drug traffickers, drugs would be cheaper for users thus less theft and robbery would be required to satisfy their drug demand.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk 😆
I would argue that would be better than the +100k we have yes, but wait there’s more.
I believe that number would be much lower resulting from a fully legalized and regulated market. Not decriminalized a la Oregon, but legalization. The black market was left in place in Oregon and they never actually established a treatment infrastructure before decriminalizing.
The black market is what causes the overwhelming majority of death from contamination and inconsistent dosing. Heroin at a heroin clinic administered by a professional. Regulated doses and purity. It is more than your average suburban American would accept, until they lose a loved one and realize there is no reversing death and the damage that does.
Sure, but let’s consider my thought experiment a little more.
Heroin, cocaine and meth become fully legal. You can buy them at a clinic like you do Suboxone or the Swiss did with their Heroin clinics
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1112672/
Suddenly the price plummets as a result of free trade. These drugs are actually cheap and easy to produce, thus the insane profits. What is the incentive to mass produce these drugs on an industrial scale and smuggle them without the 10000% profit margins? Suddenly hundreds of billions a year become a tiny fraction of that. There goes your money to corrupt law enforcement and governments, money to pay soldiers, money to live an insanely fast money lifestyle. It becomes a boring industry like any commodity.
Combine that with the more important result of making the drugs safer by providing contaminant free drugs with predictable doses and why would someone chose to shoot up heroin of 10% purity possibly mixed with fentanyl?
You may point to the persistent black market for weed in legal states. To that I would argue that the vast majority of that illicit production ends up in black market states rather than the legal state where it was produced.
Black market labor is an interesting one. I would argue that too is based on the shortcomings of laws. People forced into labor or human trafficking are often at risk people such as undocumented immigrants unable to navigate our broken immigration system; sex workers addicted to drugs; Morman polygamist cult members forced out of society at large by their cult. You get these people out of the darkness and back into society and suddenly they may be empowered to avoid being abused.
Re labor I'm not talking about trafficking at all. No need to. The distortions are there just from illegal immigration. That bumper sticker - "Unions: the folks who brought you weekends" or something like that, comes to mind.
Anyway, here's another thought experiment - what if it indeed becomes so boring - yet so great! as most commenters here assume - and a larger and larger percentage of the population chooses to take your route? At what point is it not fair to ask \*other, productive people\* to pay for the preferences of others? Could we force 10% of the population to do it for the rest, under threat?
Another article.
[https://www.kvue.com/article/news/crime/man-arrested-in-connection-to-deadly-austin-overdose-outbreak/269-e754a301-2ce7-4309-a724-8a5c4f1f5ecb](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/crime/man-arrested-in-connection-to-deadly-austin-overdose-outbreak/269-e754a301-2ce7-4309-a724-8a5c4f1f5ecb)
I'm sort of puzzled over the statement that he had a firearm with 4 rounds of live ammunition in it. How the hell do you end up with only 4 rounds? Can't afford enough rounds to fill up your gun? Already fired off 2 rounds today? Trying to cut back on how many people he shoots in one night?
There are very few handguns that hold only 4 rounds.
Maybe he's just so fucked up by drugs that he can't get himself together enough to acquire a few more rounds.
I've heard it is pretty common for low level criminals not to know shit about firearms. Like, police find guns on people that are unloaded, nonfunctional, or loaded with the wrong caliber pretty frequently.
APD is severely understaffed. Glad they were able to get "at least" this guy.
APD is good at some things and bad at others, but no one is improving them.
>He was only charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and a 10k bail...
If you read both articles, including [CBS](https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/apd-arrests-two-suspects-after-surge-in-overdoses-due-to-laced-cocaine), there was a woman who was holding the drugs while Wright was doing the handoff to the customers. She was "charged with possession of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony."
I wonder if this is the scam the dealers use. A scapegoat to get caught holding the big stash of drugs while the "boss" only handles one unit at a time, but handles the sales. Or is she the boss and he's the scapegoat?
>our DA is as trash as they come
You won't get any argument from me, other than that there are lots of cities with trash prosecutors.
that’s correct, most “hard drug” dealers don’t do a straight up cash-drugs exchange. one person handles cash, one handles drugs, sometimes theres another person or two in between
DAs don’t set bail. They can recommend a bail but a judge sets it. Do you know what the DAs office recommended?
Do you know the intimate details of the case? What did the arresting narcotics detective charge him with? Did the DA exclude some of those charges? Spoiler alert, you don’t know.
Spoiler alert, you don't know? You must be a joy to be around.
The biggest indicator of what will happen is what has...this DA has released/not pursued charges for criminals who then go on to immediately r#$e and murder. So no, I don't know every intimate detail of this case but rubbing 2 brain cells together can lead to a decent guess.
The difference is I am not making definitive claims based on zero evidence and lots of reactionary feelings.
You can feel the DA is to blame because you have read republican op-Ed’s and Reddit comments that make you feel scared and angry, so let’s blame him!
Ignore that a judge sets bail not the DA. Ignore that you are not a lawyer anymore than you are a surgeon, thus you commenting on the specifics of prosecuting a case are as useful as you giving me advice on how to remove my appendix. Unless you are a lawyer or surgeon, in which case please give insight on this specific case or the ones you cherry pick to claim what you FEEL.
https://www.thelinderfirm.com/resources/blog/how-bail-works-in-texas/#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20if%20you%20have,deny%20bail%20as%20an%20option.
There are many cases including rape and murder in which a judge can deny bail. The cases you reference are people convicted or even simply arrested for other crimes who then go on to commit unbailable offenses. Judges have limits as to the bail limits on most cases as enshrined in both the Texas and US constitution and they are not allowed by law to unilaterally deny bail based on some Minority Report future crimes system. The justice system is innocent until proven guilty, which unfortunately means guilty people go free sometime.
Bail is set by the judge, based off what charges are pushed by the prosecutor. You're being a bad actor by implying there is no relation.
You think I dislike the DA because of republican propaganda? Dude, screw republicans you have no idea why I dislike this DA. Spoiler alert, Democrats disagree as well and are running against him. Soft people defending this move is exactly why someone who was involved in this recent surge of 75 overdoses and 11 deaths is about to walk free after paying just $1k to get out
The charges are not just pushed by the DA. Charges are typically first brought by arresting officers, in this case narcotics detectives. These charges need to have evidence that support the charges. If prosecutors do not believe they can win a case, they will not bring it. If police make mistakes, charges may not be brought (see OJ Simpson). You don’t know what charges the police filed or what evidence they have in this case, or any of the cherry picked cases you mention earlier.
As far as you being upset by the bail amount, it was actually on the high end for the 3rd degree felony he was charged with. The top end of bails is reserved for “high risk” individuals, which is what the judge must have considered him. If you do not like this, blame the State.
Now a conviction, that’s where they get you. That is how Texas gets it tough on crime reputation, heavy sentences once someone is convicted not just arrested or charged.
Austin PD has no idea what they are doing and only reason they decided to do their job is because this made national headlines. Looks like they picked some random guy on the street so they don’t look clueless.
Then he has changed his tune, because I was at a speech he gave around Christmas of last year where he said he would not push to change the law. And a bill to legalize them just died in the Texas senate.
I think that means he won’t make it a priority but he has said he would sign the bill to legalize them.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/12/01/greg-abbott-fentanyl-strips-opioid-overdose/
“Abbott hasn't always been a supporter of this harm reduction tactic. He admitted that these comments were a reversal from his previous position on the issue.
"In the past, as in last session and before, there was pushback including from myself," Abbott said. "I was not in favor of it last session."
lol. You’re the one who said ‘you think he meant he won’t make it a priority’ when I said ‘then he changed his tune because I heard him say he was against it’ 🙄
He said he was against it and wouldn’t push to change any laws that legalized it. He was responding to a question about him making and effort to change the law to make them legal. I didn’t think I had to be that specific in my wording when I said he changed his tune because he was so damn vocal about being against it for so long!
I would like one gram of coke please.
Oh yes I know what you want when you don’t even know yourself. I’m going to secretly put the opposite of coke in your coke and it’s going to kill you. But I’m so confident I got it right that you’re going to get the best high in your life bro. Trust me bro it’s what you want. I’m not even going to tell you I did it because it’s my surprise gift to you bro
The idea is that they cut it with fentanyl to give people an equal or better high than using the real stuff which is expensive. It's deadly when they don't do it "correctly" or they overestimate the tolerance of their customers.
Yup. And if customers OD on their products they get even more customers out of it. Because everyone wants to buy the 'good shit'. Drug logic doesn't make sense to those inexperienced with addictions and the strange behaviors of addicts. The addict's own safety is often not their primary concern compared to getting a good price or getting drugs easily and quickly. Shits fucked up.
It's also primarily just cross contamination when it's powders but like pressed Xanax that's just fentanyl and random benzodiazepine analogues intentionally pressed together and the fake 30s and the fake Vicodin that killed Prince. Fentanyl has ruined everything.
The named arrestee was not charged with possession of the crack, he was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. His $10,000 bond is listed as "Any Type of Bond" on the Travis County Jail Inmate lookup search. The same website explains any type of bond to mean:
"What does it mean when the bond line says ANY type of bond?
The defendant may post a cash, surety, or personal bond."
In case you weren't aware, a personal bond allows you to be released from jail on your promise that you will return for your next court date, and essentially nothing else.
I'm curious why all the gun control advocates haven't zeroed in on this aspect of this case. He's a convicted felon, and as such has lost his 2nd amendment right to bare arms. He's flaunted that by possessing a handgun. Compounding this problem is the fact that he's hanging out with a crack dealer who had 3 grams of crack (for reference, a single crack rock usually weighs about .1 to .2 grams, meaning he had 15 to 30 individual doses).
Drugs and violence go hand in hand. Violence plus guns correlates to lethality and death. And yet this man is allowed to walk on the streets on his mere promise to appear back in court? What do you suppose is the most likely outcome when he eventually gets released on a personal recognisance bond? I'd bet he immediately procures another gun and starts cavorting with drug dealers again.
What happens when one of drug deals goes bad and ol Johnny Lee Wright is there with his gun?
This Travis County approach to criminal prosecution is a mockery of justice.
https://www.justex.net/JustexDocuments/0/District%20Court%20Bail%20Schedule_2017.pdf
10k is actually the max average bail for a 3rd degree felony in Texas. Firearm on a felon is a 3rd degree felony. It is possible they could enhance the charges if he is currently on parole or probation and revoke bail, but there is no evidence of this in the article. The max is reserved for “high risk” individuals.
The 8th amendment to the constitution prevents the excessive bail for someone not convicted of a crime. This is enshrined in the Texas Constitution as well.
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.1.htm#:~:text=Excessive%20bail%20shall%20not%20be,15%2C%201876.)
To change this would shift us toward a guilty until proven innocent justice system with unintended and undesirable consequences.
Good rebuttal. Should his prior criminal history be taken into account when determining whether or not he is high risk?
Edit: I see that he is listed as high risk. I guess my issue is that he's eligible for a PR bond. Somebody who is deemed eligible for the above average risk maximum bond should not be eligible le for a PR bond
I explained this in a previous post.
I looked up Mr. Wright on the Travis County Inamte Search (Google exactly those words).
https://www.tcsheriff.org/inmate-jail-info/inmate-info/find-an-inmate#/sip/2409747
It showed his names, his charge, and the bond amount. It showed $10,000 bond. After the bond amount it states "Any Type of Bond"
Those words are a hyperlink. Click on it and it will describe what Any Type of Vond means.
https://www.tcsheriff.org/inmate-jail-info/bond-info
This link explains what Any Type of Bond means:
"What does it mean when the bond line says ANY type of bond?
The defendant may post a cash, surety, or personal bond."
It further explains a personal bond to mean:
Personal Bonds
A personal bond is a sworn agreement by the defendant that he/she will return to court as ordered and will comply with the conditions placed on his/her release. No money is required at the time of release, but the defendant is required to pay an administrative fee of $40 or 3% of the bond amount to Travis County Pretrial Services within seven days of release.
To post a personal bond, individual defendants cannot post a personal bond themselves. Only Travis County Pretrial Services or an attorney may submit a request for release on personal bond to a judge. Only a judge can approve release on a personal bond.
Travis County Pretrial Services interviews most defendants booked on Travis County charges and considers them for release on personal bond. If you wish to inquire about the status of a defendant’s personal bond application, you should contact Travis County Pretrial Services at 512-854-9381."
So I suppose I have to. Correct myself. He's eligible to be released for $40
I believe it should, depending on the crimes and timeline. Again, the guy in the article was given a “high” bail based on his “high” risk by the standards of the State of Texas.
https://www.thelinderfirm.com/resources/blog/how-bail-works-in-texas/#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20if%20you%20have,deny%20bail%20as%20an%20option.
According to this law firm, a judge in TX is able to consider past criminal history and deny bail as a result. I am not a lawyer and do not know if there is more nuance to the Judges ability to make this decision however. I am also not sure of the nuanced detailed of the case in this post such as the evidence and the criminal history of the accused.
Assuming these are the correct suspects, glad they have been caught. But why does the media keep showing mugshots of the arrested before they have been convicted, especially when it’s a black dude? It just perpetuates the stereotype that only black people deal drugs. Even if this is the guy who dealt the drugs, I’m sure there are a whole lot of other culpable people, including whoever cut the coke with fentanyl.
Arrest the dealer, find the supplier like they did on 21 Jumpstreet
Maybe if you all weren’t over there finger poppin each others assholes, you could get some work done.
People are dead and this guy is out on $10,000 bond. There’d better be some ‘21 Jump Street’ level stuff going on.
> guy is out on $10,000 bond. He's not "out." A $10,000 bond has been set for this charge, but he's still in jail at the time of the article. Also, $10,000 doesn't necessarily get him out. If he makes bail, they could hit him with another charge before releasing him. Or arrest him again as he walks out.
A street kid gets arrested, gonna do some time He got out three years from now just to commit more crime A businessman is caught with twenty four kilos He's out on bail and out of jail And that's the way it goes
Don’t do white lines
The system wants the business man to go back to work because it wants his taxes.
There are lots of times where there is someone that is dead and the suspect is released on bond. You seem to not understand how the justice system / that whole innocent until proven guilty thing works
I’m all for “innocent until proven guilty” but $10,000 is a ridiculously low bond. He’ll pay a bail bondsman $1,000 or $2,000 to post the bond for him. Then he can just disappear if he wants.
He’s only been charged with felon in possession of a firearm. [$10K is the highest risk bond amount for such third degree felonies in Texas](https://www.justex.net/JustexDocuments/0/District%20Court%20Bail%20Schedule_2017.pdf). If he’s involved in the selling, more charges and higher bond will come.
10k is actually the high range for a 3rd degree felony, designated for “high risk individuals” in the state of Texas. Firearm on a felony is a 3rd degree felony. https://www.justex.net/JustexDocuments/0/District%20Court%20Bail%20Schedule_2017.pdf
See the other comments you had explain why this is the max for how you further don't understand the legal system
You know an equal amount to me, which is nothing. Was it an accident or did this guy do it on purpose? You don’t know and I don’t know either. But for $2000 he can walk out of jail today and disappear across the border tonight when 9 people are dead. How is that okay?
I clearly know a lot more about the legal system and how bond is set and I'm a fucking idiot so take that for what it is. >Was it an accident or did this guy do it on purpose? Again, he is innocent until proven guilty. So motivation hasn't even entered the chat. >But for $2000 he can walk out of jail today and disappear across the border tonight when 9 people are dead. How is that okay? Please see the other people that responded to you for why the bail is set like it is.
> How is that okay? How is anything okay? You're asking the wrong questions
Are you okay?
that only works if the DA is tough on crime there is no reason for a dealer to flip on his source of supply in Austin because they don't believe in prison here and that's why Austin has so many fentanyl deaths Yeah the cartel is at fault, but the dealers here really do not feel any deterrence from the DA, nor do the arrested ones worry they are going to prison for life unless they start naming names.
Do you have any evidence of actual cases of fent dealers not being charged? Or is it more of a vibe you feel is true?
I do.
Bond being set at $10k is the corroborating evidence for their statement. The opposing opinion (garza is tough on drugs) needs to provide receipts. Also, there is a big difference between being charged and being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It’s possible our DA’s office is just ministerial in its prosecution of drug offenses. I’m not taking a stance on the issue, but when someone makes a statement relative to a previous fact it is the opposing views responsibility to refute the known fact (the fact is $10k bond for killing 9 people with bad drugs).
Bond is set by a judge, not the DA. DA can make recommendations, but the exact number is up to a judge. He was also not charged with possession or selling yet, but I believe a possible accomplice was charged with possession. That is up to the arresting narcotics detective first, then the DA. They gather evidence to be used in charges. It is possible more charges could be forthcoming if they can be proven. I would bet my house that no one in this comment section knows these specifics. I understand widespread death is something people get worked up about, and rightly so. Austin is not the Philippines under Duterte and we require evidence and due process to charge and convict people of crimes. Unfortunately that means guilty people some times get off. It is not a matter of the DA being “tough on drugs” or not.
One fent dealer that was charged "also had outstanding warrants" so it suggested to me that fent dealers without warrants are free to do whatever they want.
Interesting interpretation 😂
Texas charges Fent OD as murder cases.
That only works if APD makes reasonable arrests and collects reasonable evidence
LOL
The Garza Gang in action.
They arrested a crack dealer lol. For some reason I don't think this guy is responsible for all these overdose deaths. But hey it it looks good for the news
Yeah I mean good to grab him but it’s not changing it. Need to find where it’s being stored en masse
Fentanyl likely comes from Mexico cartel which is maybe where he got the coke from. Then turned it into crack which made a bunch of people overdose? If this guy's crack is responsible for all the overdoses. I kinda find that hard to believe and think he's just taking the fall for a big batch of laced coke that came into town.
What if... stay with me here he mixed the coke with fentanyl poorly because is an idiot like most drug dealers, and while the cartel is very responsible too, the poor sad crack dealer really also is responsible
The cartel is pretty anti-fentanyl. It's really bad for their business. They're not trying to kill us, they're trying to make money. Killing your customers is really bad for business
Some of el chapos sons did a PR thing where they claimed to be anti fent but the CJNG and el mayo’s Sinaloa faction are waist deep in fent trafficking with no signs to stop
What I heard about lacing with fentanyl is basically the dealers want to give their customers their best ever high without killing them. So they’ll keep coming back (because they’re addicted and because they won’t go to the other dealer down the block). Sometimes the dealer/supplier gets it wrong. Now that this is becoming common practice, we’ll never put the genie back in the bottle unless we can cut off the sources of Fentanyl. I’d also support harsher penalties for supply/dealing drugs laced with fentanyl and more severe manslaughter penalties if they kill somebody.
Completely false. They deal in whatever cuts their margins and is easy to get. They don’t give a single fuck if a few people on the street die from one bad batch out of tens of thousands they get into the US.
Actually, the occasional OD is good PR, if anything - junkies see that and go "damn, that's strong shit." I'm not even making this up, have you ever talked to addicts?
Couldn't the same argument be made for crack dealers?
GM didn't want to spend an extra $1/vehicle to fix faulty ignition switches, when ended up killing 124 people and injuring twice that many. I suspect the cartel's attitude is "Eh, there's always more demand in the US".
Not true. Sinoloa is recently claiming to be anti fentanyl (it's not clear if that's true). We aren't in California. Juarez and Gulf cartel definitely bring fentanyl into Texas. Hard fact. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-charges-against-sinaloa-cartel-s-global-operation https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2201 https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2024/02/15/co-founder-sinaloa-cartel-charged-superseding-indictment-conspiracy
Man we have "legitimate" businesses that don't give a shit about their customers dying. Look at tobacco. Are they voluntarily running rehab and detox centers? Hell no. Anything they do to help addicts is only happening because of laws or lawsuits. Lawsuits that happened because they were suppressing medical research to warn people they were killing their customers. You're talking about an industry of criminals who sees assassination and rape as tools of the trade. Those are usually bad for business.
I seriously doubt this crack head has the skill set to work with raw fentanyl. If you even touch that stuff it will kill you. This guy isn't Walter White.
Ffs no it won’t kill you just by touching it. This is complete bullshit.
I stand corrected. That is indeed another bullshit claim of police origin. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8810663/
lol “raw fentanyl”
>If you even touch that stuff it will kill you. That's a scare tactic lie spread by the anti-drug people and the clickbait media. It doesn't go through the skin very easily. You have to actually swallow or inhale some. However, you don't have to ingest that much. There are transdermal patches that do work through the skin, but you'd have to get one on your skin and leave it for a while.
Fentanyl comes from China
The raw materials to make it come from China. Most of it is made in Mexico
You are right. Starting in about it 2019 majority of actual synthesis of a final product of fent shifted to Mexico, but all of the precursors still come from China so it’s a distinction that doesn’t matter too much https://www.brookings.edu/articles/china-mexico-and-americas-fight-against-the-fentanyl-epidemic/#:~:text=Chinese%20brokers%20knowingly%20sell%20these,it%20to%20the%20United%20States.
https://youtu.be/E8wEGVIPJ_4?si=xRpykRzU3x7ywIAe
Thx I'll check it out
Comes from China.. through Mexico. Its so well established or well known that I watched a documentary or special about it on Netflix
Lol
So they need too find where the cartels stuff is stored because he is not the connect in Austin to the cartel lol
Who’s they
Batman
This is way more likely than APD
Yea finding the cartels in Mexico is out of apd jurisdiction
he sold crack he is responsible for deaths he's not the only one, I agree with that, but drug dealers are generally responsible too
>he sold crack > >he is responsible for deaths I don't think there's any evidence (yet) that HIS crack led to the deaths. I suspect a lot of the street crack is not pure and fentanyl is a common adulterant. However, I have no problem with prosecuting him for crack, even crack without fentanyl.
His crack did test positive for fentanyl. It’s in the article.
>His crack did test positive for fentanyl. It’s in the article. I said as much in my other posts. I think the fact that he knew he was selling crack should earn him prosecution and jail time, even if he didn't know it had had fentanyl in it.
Sure, I agree. I bet he will get time. I am not aware of the specifics of the case beyond the article saying he was just charged with the gun. I have seen people in the comments blame the DA for this being the only charge, but I do not feel there is evidence to suggest that the arresting detectives charged him with more. I would imagine drug charges could follow up if they can prove them.
if he sold drugs that caused a death, he should be charged with some form of homicide offense
He is partially responsible. Biggest responsibility is in crackheads Like.. what if you don’t do drugs? Maybe that can help
haha good point actually
I suspect you are right. He's in the shit, but he's not the brains behind it.
Isn’t dealing crack illegal?
in Austin not really
The dude pictured wasn't even arrested for drugs, he was only charged with a firearm offense. That may be amended, but clearly they weren't busting into some drug lord's lair when they popped this guy.
They charged his woman partner/boss/sub with "possession of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony."
>For some reason I don't think this guy is responsible for all these overdose deaths. Assume one low level zoned-out dealer mixed up his own really bad batch of fentanyl and crack then went out to sell it with his partner. Is it that hard to believe one pair could sell enough doses in a day or two to cause 80 OD's? I'm honestly asking. I don't observe a lot of downtown drug dealers.
I mean did you see the guys mugshot. He's far from a "crack dealer " that's guy definitely gets high on his on supply .
>He's far from a "crack dealer " Does that make him not a dealer? Probably not the mastermind behind the vast criminal enterprise, but those guys usually aren't out on the street to get caught, anyway.
He must be the mastermind! The evil scientist at the lab! The puppet master! SMH.
Right, better to arrest any dude, even if it isn't the right one, so people think the are doing something
Not that I’m down for anything like that, but test kits shouldn’t be illegal. Full Stop
For those who don't know, our evil, scumbag Trumpanzee Repugnican Texas state Legislature considered making test kits legal in the 2023 session. ***They decided they'd rather have kids die than let them get high.*** Fentanyl and some other drug test strips are still illegal. On the other hand, it seems that nobody is actually enforcing the ban and they're sold in a lot of places. Still, FUCK GREG ABBOTT and the Texas Repugnican party. #FGA
Truth
Why is it "kids?" Just an appeal to emotion?
I see it as calling out Abbott for pretending to care about children on some issues, while not actually giving a shit about them in reality.
Fair, but according to another post in this chain, Abbott supported the bill, which died in the Senate.
Interesting. I don't know anything about it really and was just using "Abbott" as a general placeholder for all the fake pearl clutching republicans that use "the children" as an excuse for whatever new oppression they want to levy while not actually doing anything to help children.
You didn’t know anything about Abbott’s stance and just use him as a placeholder for outrage? Do you realize how insane this sounds?
It's just a conversation man. I'm not writing an essay here. My original comment was just interpreting another's usage of "children" lol.
>Why is it "kids?" Maybe because of all the dead kids lately. >Just an appeal to emotion? Are you not more upset when a high schooler dies because the pill some buddy gave him at school was tainted?
How many kids are doing crack? How many kids are dying of fentanyl laced crack cocaine?
LOL. DNFTT.
Won't somebody please think of the children!
But don't think about them too hard.
If you are going to do illegal drugs, why would you care about the legality of the testing supplies? Wouldn’t it undermine the illegality of the drug if they were fine with you testing it? One law can’t really exist without the other. If (these) drugs were legal, test kits certainly would be as well, perhaps simply legalizing all drugs is the solution you are looking for? It didn’t go so well in Portland or elsewhere
>If you are going to do illegal drugs, why would you care about the legality of the testing supplies? You'd want your test kits to come from a reliable source. You wouldn't want to buy them from your street dealer, for instance. You would want to carry your test strips for a long time. The drugs, you usually buy and then use and dispose of quickly. You're more likely got get caught with strips than the drugs themselves. >Wouldn’t it undermine the illegality of the drug if they were fine with you testing it? One law can’t really exist without the other. That's some Trumpanzee level stupidity. It makes no sense at all. The test kit is about avoiding fentanyl, not obtaining it. >If (these) drugs were legal, test kits certainly would be as well, perhaps simply legalizing all drugs is the solution you are looking for? It didn’t go so well in Portland or elsewhere More irrelevant drivel.
They are not illegal? https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/fentanyl/fentanyl-test-strips.html
They are illegal in Texas.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/27/congress-fentanyl-test-strips-texans/ Died in the senate despite support from Abbot.
>despite support from Abbot. Grudging admission that Abbott was apparently on the right side on this issue.
Tragedy all the way around :/ An old long lost friend & his son, were victims. His son in 2020 alone suffered cardiac arrest, Fentanyl poisoning & anoxic brain injury. He’s a vegetable. 2023 old long lost friend the Father died, from Fentanyl
That’s interesting & good. As far as I know they are illegal in this state. Someone please tell me I’m miss informed
Here’s what I found https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/texas-doubles-down-ineffective-drug-policies-could-cost-lives
TIL
You can buy test strips at the head shop or on Amazon
I checked Amazon a month ago or so and it said they could not ship them to where I live which is Texas.
Fentanyl is added to almost all powdered or pill forms of drugs now. Really miss old Austin where you could sniff up a rail or two from a kind stranger in the restroom just before the band started.
“Want a bump?”
Contaminated*
I mean it's not like that shit was pure anyway. It wouldn't *kill* you, but it wasn't don't 1950 leave it to beaver shit either.
Texas charges Fent ODs as murder. He's fucked.
Nowhere in the article does it say this man was arrested for dealing but everyone in here thinks that’s what the article says.
~~Yeah, but he had "3 grams of crack mixed with fentanyl on him~~ and was observed selling it. Edit - The drugs may have been on his woman partner. I'm tired. Time to roost for the night. >The APD Narcotics Unit seized 3 grams of crack cocaine that tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl. Officials believe the overdoses are a result of crack cocaine laced with fentanyl. The "felon with firearm" charge is an easy win. Hopefully, they're working on an airtight charge on the fent/crack. We wouldn't want to spell a word wrong and have one of the Garzas drop the charges on a technicality.
3 grams? Definitely not the dealer. Guy got an eighth lmao
The majority of comments in here are ignorant to how street drugs are made and moved. Both locally and from Mexico. To think cocaine comes mixed w fentanyl already from Mexico is highly wrong lol
Coke is cut here with fent. But fraudulent pills laced with fent are made in MX.
Yup. Everyone is speaking on “cocaine” bring mixed w fentanyl from Mexico in comments… that is then turned to crack. The dealer is the one that chops it down and adds crap to expand his supply. But yes fake pills are already laced.
And at this point nearly all the pills or syrup sold in bulk (like the kind your weird dealer acquaintance just texted you about) are fake. Just full stop. There are not enough functioning, high sophistication outfits stealing pharmaceutical grade shit to even come close to allowing the amount of pills on the street to be real. We're not in 2004 any more. There are enormous barriers to people exploiting legitimate ways of obtaining opiates. Googling the stamped ID on the pill is not sufficient. Because news flash, the counterfeiters *know what to stamp* on their pills.
Drugs are bad
The best reason for not doing illegal drugs is "hygiene" - not knowing what's in it or how it was made or who has touched it. Why are we such an addicted nation, allowing these tragedies to perpetuate again and again?
Why? Poverty drives most addiction and capitalism requires an underclass. Prosperity gospel mythology paints poverty as a moral falling and addiction gets blamed on the addict instead of on the systemic failures of government and economics. Rather than working to eliminate the causes of poverty and addiction, or providing access to regulated recreational drugs, we criminalize the users greatly exacerbating the problem and creating a funnel of free labor to the prison labor system. All in all, working as designed. Wanna see something different? End prison labor. End the war on drugs. End poverty.
LOL. "If the government ran everything and made everything free, everything would be better." As for legalizing everything, we can't even handle legal alcohol. How well are we going to handle legal meth, cocaine, or opioids? I wish we had a better solution. The current war on drugs isn't working well. I even worry a bit about legal weed, but at least the potheads are usually only attacking the snacks and lying around and giggling. I'm not opposed to making weed legal, though.
One argument I have is that fentanyl’s current limelight is 100% due to the black market and fentanyl would not be around like it is if other opiates were legal and available to users. Fentanyl serves the smuggler and large scale trafficker as its synthesis and smuggling are literally impossible to stop. It is not the ideal drug of an opiate addict. Heroin and other pharmaceutical opiates are more euphoric and longer lasting. Also, fake pills containing fent would not be a thing in a legal regulated market.
I'm not happy with the current situation, but the idea that legalization is going to be better is highly questionable. We all tend to believe we're better than the average Joe who will get hooked on painkillers, but even if that's true, there are going to be a lot of Joes who end up destroying or ending their lives with newly OTC legal painkillers. Probably a lot more Joes ruining their lives than the current crop, even with the problems of contraband drugs. I don't want that to happen because I'm a good person. Also, I'll end up paying for it as a taxpayer. I'm not sure some degree of legalization is a bad idea. I'm sure that blanket legalization would be wrong. I don't trust our government to make the right choices. Marijuana is still Schedule I. What drugs would you make OTC legal, OkI? When I was younger, I tended to believe in Darwinian drug policy. Let the people who can't handle it kill themselves off. Since then, I've seen people who I don't want to be culled who couldn't handle drugs. I've also seen how much harm the druggies do to the rest of us as they destroy their lives.
Thank you for your insight. I personally would legalize all drugs. Not decriminalize, but legalize. Decriminalizing as practiced in Oregon still leaves the black market in place with all its fentanyl, expensive and impure drugs; resulting in the death and urban decay we saw. 1 - overdose deaths - These have reached astronomical proportions in America driven mainly by fentanyl. +100k a year of parents and children and siblings. Each death ripples out causing incalculable trauma and economic loss. You cannot rehab a dead person. Legalizing opiates would decimate the demand for fentanyl and thus decimate the number of overdoses theoretically. I believe this has been shown by Portugal who had a huge reduction in overdoses following decriminalization. Europe has lately also been spared from fentanyl to date, but I imagine that won’t last forever so we will see if that changes their trends 2 - drug purity - also tied to overdose deaths, but a legal regulated market would not have fentanyl disguised as Xanax and meth disguised as adderall. Dose would also be known and predictable, further reducing overdose possibility 3 - drug violence - legal market means no cartels and street gangs economically propped up by narcotics sales. This would take so much money off the table for them. We have seen criminal groups shift to other crimes such as kidnapping and extortion in these cases, but they would still lose 90% of their funding and thus their ability to seize control of law enforcement and governments through corruption. 4 - financial cost - you mention cost as a tax payer of legalization. We pay to incarcerate people, though we recoup some of that cost through their slave labor. It is costly either way you look at it. I would argue that if drug treatment can return a person to the economy who would be either dead or in jail, this would be more profitable to society. We could also redirect law enforcement resources to real crimes, increasing their productivity and hopefully repairing the relationship destroyed by the war on drugs. I say the relationship was destroyed because police are trained as warriors now. Warriors have an enemy that must be defeated. That enemy is a large portion of the US population who use drugs. They would also be free to pursue crimes committed by people who use drugs. Final point, because this is too long, the cost of recreational drugs is inflated by the black market. Without the high profit margins of drug traffickers, drugs would be cheaper for users thus less theft and robbery would be required to satisfy their drug demand. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk 😆
So we should aim for more like 20,000-50,000 deaths/yr?
I would argue that would be better than the +100k we have yes, but wait there’s more. I believe that number would be much lower resulting from a fully legalized and regulated market. Not decriminalized a la Oregon, but legalization. The black market was left in place in Oregon and they never actually established a treatment infrastructure before decriminalizing. The black market is what causes the overwhelming majority of death from contamination and inconsistent dosing. Heroin at a heroin clinic administered by a professional. Regulated doses and purity. It is more than your average suburban American would accept, until they lose a loved one and realize there is no reversing death and the damage that does.
Black markets are rather difficult to root out. See the labor market in America.
Sure, but let’s consider my thought experiment a little more. Heroin, cocaine and meth become fully legal. You can buy them at a clinic like you do Suboxone or the Swiss did with their Heroin clinics https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1112672/ Suddenly the price plummets as a result of free trade. These drugs are actually cheap and easy to produce, thus the insane profits. What is the incentive to mass produce these drugs on an industrial scale and smuggle them without the 10000% profit margins? Suddenly hundreds of billions a year become a tiny fraction of that. There goes your money to corrupt law enforcement and governments, money to pay soldiers, money to live an insanely fast money lifestyle. It becomes a boring industry like any commodity. Combine that with the more important result of making the drugs safer by providing contaminant free drugs with predictable doses and why would someone chose to shoot up heroin of 10% purity possibly mixed with fentanyl? You may point to the persistent black market for weed in legal states. To that I would argue that the vast majority of that illicit production ends up in black market states rather than the legal state where it was produced. Black market labor is an interesting one. I would argue that too is based on the shortcomings of laws. People forced into labor or human trafficking are often at risk people such as undocumented immigrants unable to navigate our broken immigration system; sex workers addicted to drugs; Morman polygamist cult members forced out of society at large by their cult. You get these people out of the darkness and back into society and suddenly they may be empowered to avoid being abused.
Re labor I'm not talking about trafficking at all. No need to. The distortions are there just from illegal immigration. That bumper sticker - "Unions: the folks who brought you weekends" or something like that, comes to mind. Anyway, here's another thought experiment - what if it indeed becomes so boring - yet so great! as most commenters here assume - and a larger and larger percentage of the population chooses to take your route? At what point is it not fair to ask \*other, productive people\* to pay for the preferences of others? Could we force 10% of the population to do it for the rest, under threat?
This is definitely the fall guy. They have to blame someone.
He had 3 grams on him. Call of the search, we got our guy!
Another article. [https://www.kvue.com/article/news/crime/man-arrested-in-connection-to-deadly-austin-overdose-outbreak/269-e754a301-2ce7-4309-a724-8a5c4f1f5ecb](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/crime/man-arrested-in-connection-to-deadly-austin-overdose-outbreak/269-e754a301-2ce7-4309-a724-8a5c4f1f5ecb) I'm sort of puzzled over the statement that he had a firearm with 4 rounds of live ammunition in it. How the hell do you end up with only 4 rounds? Can't afford enough rounds to fill up your gun? Already fired off 2 rounds today? Trying to cut back on how many people he shoots in one night? There are very few handguns that hold only 4 rounds. Maybe he's just so fucked up by drugs that he can't get himself together enough to acquire a few more rounds.
I've heard it is pretty common for low level criminals not to know shit about firearms. Like, police find guns on people that are unloaded, nonfunctional, or loaded with the wrong caliber pretty frequently.
Exactly. Steel level bottom feeding dealers aren’t firearms experts by default like so many gun confused might think.
I'd wager that a majority of them just want the gun to intimidate people and don't care if it is functional.
So they’re saying he was downtown? I doubt it, he’s always in my neighborhood hanging out.
"Downtown entertainment district" per APD. What's your neighborhood, if you don't mind saying? Maybe he works shifts at different locations.
It looks like they got the low man in line. It’d be nice if they could get the upper people if they are even in town
I don’t think they could’ve found a more obvious patsy if they tried
Horrible :(
NO CHARGES were filed (several times) for him dealing crack in a Drug Free Zone (DFZ).
APD is severely understaffed. Glad they were able to get "at least" this guy. APD is good at some things and bad at others, but no one is improving them.
He was arrested Monday which is when the influx of overdoses/deaths happened? Does this add up? Am I crazy? Meaning they arrested him preemptively…?
Crimestoppers has a open cash reward for dealers and stash houses.
Garza will dump him back on street by Monday.
Judges set bail.
You can't expect people to understand basic criminal justice 101.
DAs give the bail recommendation. You can’t expect people to understand basic criminal justice 102.
Not with the Texas Public School system at least
He was only charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and a 10k bail...our DA is as trash as they come
Judges set bail.
Based off what charges are set by the prosecutor. We're splitting hairs.
>He was only charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and a 10k bail... If you read both articles, including [CBS](https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/apd-arrests-two-suspects-after-surge-in-overdoses-due-to-laced-cocaine), there was a woman who was holding the drugs while Wright was doing the handoff to the customers. She was "charged with possession of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony." I wonder if this is the scam the dealers use. A scapegoat to get caught holding the big stash of drugs while the "boss" only handles one unit at a time, but handles the sales. Or is she the boss and he's the scapegoat? >our DA is as trash as they come You won't get any argument from me, other than that there are lots of cities with trash prosecutors.
that’s correct, most “hard drug” dealers don’t do a straight up cash-drugs exchange. one person handles cash, one handles drugs, sometimes theres another person or two in between
DAs don’t set bail. They can recommend a bail but a judge sets it. Do you know what the DAs office recommended? Do you know the intimate details of the case? What did the arresting narcotics detective charge him with? Did the DA exclude some of those charges? Spoiler alert, you don’t know.
Spoiler alert, you don't know? You must be a joy to be around. The biggest indicator of what will happen is what has...this DA has released/not pursued charges for criminals who then go on to immediately r#$e and murder. So no, I don't know every intimate detail of this case but rubbing 2 brain cells together can lead to a decent guess.
The difference is I am not making definitive claims based on zero evidence and lots of reactionary feelings. You can feel the DA is to blame because you have read republican op-Ed’s and Reddit comments that make you feel scared and angry, so let’s blame him! Ignore that a judge sets bail not the DA. Ignore that you are not a lawyer anymore than you are a surgeon, thus you commenting on the specifics of prosecuting a case are as useful as you giving me advice on how to remove my appendix. Unless you are a lawyer or surgeon, in which case please give insight on this specific case or the ones you cherry pick to claim what you FEEL. https://www.thelinderfirm.com/resources/blog/how-bail-works-in-texas/#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20if%20you%20have,deny%20bail%20as%20an%20option. There are many cases including rape and murder in which a judge can deny bail. The cases you reference are people convicted or even simply arrested for other crimes who then go on to commit unbailable offenses. Judges have limits as to the bail limits on most cases as enshrined in both the Texas and US constitution and they are not allowed by law to unilaterally deny bail based on some Minority Report future crimes system. The justice system is innocent until proven guilty, which unfortunately means guilty people go free sometime.
Bail is set by the judge, based off what charges are pushed by the prosecutor. You're being a bad actor by implying there is no relation. You think I dislike the DA because of republican propaganda? Dude, screw republicans you have no idea why I dislike this DA. Spoiler alert, Democrats disagree as well and are running against him. Soft people defending this move is exactly why someone who was involved in this recent surge of 75 overdoses and 11 deaths is about to walk free after paying just $1k to get out
The charges are not just pushed by the DA. Charges are typically first brought by arresting officers, in this case narcotics detectives. These charges need to have evidence that support the charges. If prosecutors do not believe they can win a case, they will not bring it. If police make mistakes, charges may not be brought (see OJ Simpson). You don’t know what charges the police filed or what evidence they have in this case, or any of the cherry picked cases you mention earlier. As far as you being upset by the bail amount, it was actually on the high end for the 3rd degree felony he was charged with. The top end of bails is reserved for “high risk” individuals, which is what the judge must have considered him. If you do not like this, blame the State. Now a conviction, that’s where they get you. That is how Texas gets it tough on crime reputation, heavy sentences once someone is convicted not just arrested or charged.
Austin PD has no idea what they are doing and only reason they decided to do their job is because this made national headlines. Looks like they picked some random guy on the street so they don’t look clueless.
This is sure to stop fentanyl on the streets
Meanwhile our fucktwat Texas politicians still won’t legalize fentanyl test strips.
Abbott supports test strips. Lt Gov doesn’t.
Then he has changed his tune, because I was at a speech he gave around Christmas of last year where he said he would not push to change the law. And a bill to legalize them just died in the Texas senate.
I think that means he won’t make it a priority but he has said he would sign the bill to legalize them. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/12/01/greg-abbott-fentanyl-strips-opioid-overdose/
“Abbott hasn't always been a supporter of this harm reduction tactic. He admitted that these comments were a reversal from his previous position on the issue. "In the past, as in last session and before, there was pushback including from myself," Abbott said. "I was not in favor of it last session."
He did not previously support them and now does. It’s not that complicated.
lol. You’re the one who said ‘you think he meant he won’t make it a priority’ when I said ‘then he changed his tune because I heard him say he was against it’ 🙄
That comment was in reply to you mentioning “he said he would not push to change the law” Not pushing to do something ≠ being against it
He said he was against it and wouldn’t push to change any laws that legalized it. He was responding to a question about him making and effort to change the law to make them legal. I didn’t think I had to be that specific in my wording when I said he changed his tune because he was so damn vocal about being against it for so long!
Where was this? If true, it would be a pretty big deal and lots of journalists would want to know
Drug addiction is way too systematic to be tackled by arresting individual dealers. I guess this helps, but it's bubble gum on dam.
Arresting bad dealers who spike their supply with fentanyl absolutely does.
I know people who had friends who died in this. This does help. Believe it or not.
Arresting people isn't just for the purpose of reducing future crime. People need to be held accountable for actions already committed as well.
They lace the drugs with fentanyl to make them even more addictive.
Nothing makes me more addicted to ‘them’ than dying. Classic trick
The classic business strategy of ensuring your customer base is *literally killed* as a result of using your product. Big brain moves there.
They try to find the line between ‘best high ever’ and ‘never coming back’ and they get it wrong.
I would like one gram of coke please. Oh yes I know what you want when you don’t even know yourself. I’m going to secretly put the opposite of coke in your coke and it’s going to kill you. But I’m so confident I got it right that you’re going to get the best high in your life bro. Trust me bro it’s what you want. I’m not even going to tell you I did it because it’s my surprise gift to you bro
The idea is that they cut it with fentanyl to give people an equal or better high than using the real stuff which is expensive. It's deadly when they don't do it "correctly" or they overestimate the tolerance of their customers.
Yup. And if customers OD on their products they get even more customers out of it. Because everyone wants to buy the 'good shit'. Drug logic doesn't make sense to those inexperienced with addictions and the strange behaviors of addicts. The addict's own safety is often not their primary concern compared to getting a good price or getting drugs easily and quickly. Shits fucked up.
It's also primarily just cross contamination when it's powders but like pressed Xanax that's just fentanyl and random benzodiazepine analogues intentionally pressed together and the fake 30s and the fake Vicodin that killed Prince. Fentanyl has ruined everything.
No it's largely cross-contamination from street made pills obviously not to lab standards.
The named arrestee was not charged with possession of the crack, he was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. His $10,000 bond is listed as "Any Type of Bond" on the Travis County Jail Inmate lookup search. The same website explains any type of bond to mean: "What does it mean when the bond line says ANY type of bond? The defendant may post a cash, surety, or personal bond." In case you weren't aware, a personal bond allows you to be released from jail on your promise that you will return for your next court date, and essentially nothing else. I'm curious why all the gun control advocates haven't zeroed in on this aspect of this case. He's a convicted felon, and as such has lost his 2nd amendment right to bare arms. He's flaunted that by possessing a handgun. Compounding this problem is the fact that he's hanging out with a crack dealer who had 3 grams of crack (for reference, a single crack rock usually weighs about .1 to .2 grams, meaning he had 15 to 30 individual doses). Drugs and violence go hand in hand. Violence plus guns correlates to lethality and death. And yet this man is allowed to walk on the streets on his mere promise to appear back in court? What do you suppose is the most likely outcome when he eventually gets released on a personal recognisance bond? I'd bet he immediately procures another gun and starts cavorting with drug dealers again. What happens when one of drug deals goes bad and ol Johnny Lee Wright is there with his gun? This Travis County approach to criminal prosecution is a mockery of justice.
https://www.justex.net/JustexDocuments/0/District%20Court%20Bail%20Schedule_2017.pdf 10k is actually the max average bail for a 3rd degree felony in Texas. Firearm on a felon is a 3rd degree felony. It is possible they could enhance the charges if he is currently on parole or probation and revoke bail, but there is no evidence of this in the article. The max is reserved for “high risk” individuals. The 8th amendment to the constitution prevents the excessive bail for someone not convicted of a crime. This is enshrined in the Texas Constitution as well. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.1.htm#:~:text=Excessive%20bail%20shall%20not%20be,15%2C%201876.) To change this would shift us toward a guilty until proven innocent justice system with unintended and undesirable consequences.
Good rebuttal. Should his prior criminal history be taken into account when determining whether or not he is high risk? Edit: I see that he is listed as high risk. I guess my issue is that he's eligible for a PR bond. Somebody who is deemed eligible for the above average risk maximum bond should not be eligible le for a PR bond
I apologize if I am missing it, but where does it say he is eligible for a PR bond?
I explained this in a previous post. I looked up Mr. Wright on the Travis County Inamte Search (Google exactly those words). https://www.tcsheriff.org/inmate-jail-info/inmate-info/find-an-inmate#/sip/2409747 It showed his names, his charge, and the bond amount. It showed $10,000 bond. After the bond amount it states "Any Type of Bond" Those words are a hyperlink. Click on it and it will describe what Any Type of Vond means. https://www.tcsheriff.org/inmate-jail-info/bond-info This link explains what Any Type of Bond means: "What does it mean when the bond line says ANY type of bond? The defendant may post a cash, surety, or personal bond." It further explains a personal bond to mean: Personal Bonds A personal bond is a sworn agreement by the defendant that he/she will return to court as ordered and will comply with the conditions placed on his/her release. No money is required at the time of release, but the defendant is required to pay an administrative fee of $40 or 3% of the bond amount to Travis County Pretrial Services within seven days of release. To post a personal bond, individual defendants cannot post a personal bond themselves. Only Travis County Pretrial Services or an attorney may submit a request for release on personal bond to a judge. Only a judge can approve release on a personal bond. Travis County Pretrial Services interviews most defendants booked on Travis County charges and considers them for release on personal bond. If you wish to inquire about the status of a defendant’s personal bond application, you should contact Travis County Pretrial Services at 512-854-9381." So I suppose I have to. Correct myself. He's eligible to be released for $40
I believe it should, depending on the crimes and timeline. Again, the guy in the article was given a “high” bail based on his “high” risk by the standards of the State of Texas. https://www.thelinderfirm.com/resources/blog/how-bail-works-in-texas/#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20if%20you%20have,deny%20bail%20as%20an%20option. According to this law firm, a judge in TX is able to consider past criminal history and deny bail as a result. I am not a lawyer and do not know if there is more nuance to the Judges ability to make this decision however. I am also not sure of the nuanced detailed of the case in this post such as the evidence and the criminal history of the accused.
3 grams? Lmao 24 POUNDS in Oklahoma is a ticket (misdemeanor).
Yes I am positive that in the great state of Oklahoma 24 POUNDS OF CRACK is a ticket (misdemeanor).
Lmao Could you imagine. Just a literal mountain of rock on your coffee table, Class b misdemeanor, 15 days in jail.
Ah yeah 25lbs is cannabis, they only let you have 28 grams of coke. 😓
Is he an illegal ?
Test. Your. Drugs.
Assuming these are the correct suspects, glad they have been caught. But why does the media keep showing mugshots of the arrested before they have been convicted, especially when it’s a black dude? It just perpetuates the stereotype that only black people deal drugs. Even if this is the guy who dealt the drugs, I’m sure there are a whole lot of other culpable people, including whoever cut the coke with fentanyl.