Atlanta Criminal Drug Defense Attorney Comments on Probation Denial for Convicted Drug Trafficker

Federal Criminal Defense in Atlanta

Early in the month of September, a citizen of the state of Georgia who was convicted previously on multiple drug-related felonies, including cocaine trafficking, requested probation from the Houston County courts, and was swiftly denied, speaking volumes about the severity of his crime and the views the legal system takes on such heinous acts within society.

The Georgia man will be required per the terms of his sentencing to serve out his 20 year sentence in full for multiple felony drug charges, including cocaine trafficking, after a Houston County judge denied his request for probation Tuesday.

Assistant Houston County District Attorney Banks Smith said Circuit Court Judge Brad Mendheim denied the request for probation for 30-year-old Vasken Truttling, who reigns from Canton, Ga., and claimed residency there at the time of prosecution.

Houston County Sheriff’s investigators arrested Truttling on March 28 of 2009, then proceeded to charge him with trafficking cocaine alongside three felony counts of distribution of a controlled substance.

Smith said Mr. Truttling will be required to serve the full term of his sentence as of this time, deemed to be 20 years in prison for the drug trafficking crime. This sentence will run concurrently with the 12 year sentences he received for each of the three drug distribution charges. Three sentences of 12 years and one sentence of 20 years totals 56 sentenced years in prison.

Deputies investigating the Truttling case seized nearly a pound of marijuana and 1.5 ounces of cocaine during their drug investigation involving the Georgia man. Deputies described Truttling as a “hands-on distributor” of drugs.

Investigators also said Truttling had established a marijuana and cocaine distribution route from the Atlanta area to the Dothan area with stops in between, including Montgomery and Eufaula. In the eyes of prosecutors, this detailed a brash and deliberate attempt to elaborately circumvent the law.

“The belligerence of this offense most likely mandated the severity of the sentence in the eyes of the courts,” Criminal Defense Attorney Mr. Jeff Manciagli says of the case of Truttling.

“The courts tend to frown upon possession of drugs in volume as it is. When it comes down to there being so much evidence of an individual’s intent to distribute, the courts truly feel as though they’re doing society a service on moral levels by exorcising this element from the communities of their cities,” Manciagli states.

“This man was not smart. In states like California or New York, these routes are almost impossible to establish, and the laws work much differently pertaining to details of how to prosecute for drug trafficking, based on their coastal geography.

“This guy setup the equivalent of a paper route, only he wasn’t delivering the kind of paper you read, and he wasn’t collecting the type of paper that’s news to anyone,” Manciagli concludes.

In the event that you or someone you know has been unfortunately caught up in some kind of legal skirmish involving potential or alleged charges that are drug related, contact the offices of expert Atlanta federal criminal defense attorney Jeff Manciagli.