State v. Sotelobanos
N/AOUTCOME: 6 Counts - 1st Degree Drug: Dismissed.
Mr. Sotelobanos was in a friend's home when a package was delivered by FedEx. The package had his name but his friend's address. He spoke little English and the delivery person spoke no Spanish. The de ... livery person handed the package to Mr. Sotelobanos and then left. What Mr. Sotelobanos didn't know is that police and FBI had intercepted this package at the FedEx warehouse and had discovered it contained 6 pounds of meth amphetamine, several hundred times the amount required to charge someone with 1st Degree drug charges. Police almost immediately raided the home and found Mr. Sotelobanos hiding in the closet of one of the back bedrooms. Mr. Kuehn convinced the jury during a 4 day trial that Mr. Sotelobanos had been set up by the very friend at whose house he'd been staying that day. It was this friend who'd invited him over on the day he knew the package would be delivered. This same friend fled the house less than 5 minutes after the police delivered the package, and had several thousands of dollars in cash on him. Several other individuals also fled the house, and were discovered to have cash and drugs in their possession. Mr. Sotelobanos, however, didn't leave because, Mr. Kuehn argued, he had no idea what was in the package. The package was never opened to confirm that the $100,000-$200,000 worth of drugs had been safely delivered, he never took the package downstairs where more drugs and guns had been stashed away, and he never fled the house. Instead, once he saw the men kicking down the door, armed with guns, he believed that the house was being robbed, and he ran to hide from the attackers. Mr. Kuehn also attacked the investigation leading up the the controlled delivery of the drugs to Mr. Sotelobanos. Officers had the drugs in their possession for several hours, with plenty of time to plan. However, once they decided to deliver the package, they made the delivery to "Carlos Sotelobanos" using an officer who spoke no Spanish at all. Further, the officers who were watching the house couldn't remember which door the fleeing men left by . This became crucial as one outside door led directly to the basement (where other drugs and guns were discovered) and the other to the living room, which was separated from the basement by a kitchen and hallway. Finally, Mr. Kuehn pointed out to the jury that, while the officers had tens of pictures of the house, the basement, and the guns and drugs that were found down there, there were no pictures at all of the room that Mr. Sotelobanos had been found in, nor of where the drugs were in the room when he was found. Ultimately, because the officers were afraid that if the drugs weren't delivered that day then the dealers would know it had been intercepted, they moved quickly and they did exactly what the drug dealers hoped would happen - they caught the man the dealers had been using as the fall guy, the one who knew nothing about what his friends were doing, the one who accepted the package at the door because he didn't speak English - Carlos Sotelobanos. Because of Mr. Kuehn's passionate and powerful representation, Mr. Sotelobanos is a free man today.
