Tampa drug lawyer John Musca has learned that a local man has been arrested again, this time on drug charges. Salvador Sanchez, who is 24 years old, resides in Tampa and is all too familiar with the local law enforcement agencies. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office picked up Sanchez earlier this week on charges that he had two pounds of marijuana and 23.6 grams of cocaine. Sheriff's deputies located Sanchez near Holloway Road and Gunn Highway.
Sanchez was charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell the drug, possession of cocaine, and three counts of probation violation. Sanchez allegedly violated the terms of his previously-imposed probation by carrying a concealed weapon (a firearm) and two counts of burglarizing an occupied dwelling. The Sheriff's Office did not indicate whether Sanchez was subject to a prior warrant for the violation of probation.
Despite his young age, Sanchez is no stranger to the criminal justice system. This latest drug arrest marked his 32nd arrest in total. Florida state law prohibits the release of juvenile records, so it is unknown if Sanchez was arrested for or convicted of any juvenile criminal charges. The 31 prior arrests have all been for adult offenses, although it is possible to charge juveniles as adults in some particularly serious cases. There is no indication that Sanchez was ever charged as an adult while a juvenile.
States like California instituted the "Three Strikes" law in order to keep repeat offenders behind bars. Those types of laws, however, are typically triggered by multiple felony convictions. Some small-time criminal defendants rack up a multitude of very minor charges, such as loitering. In this case, it is not known for which offenses Sanchez was previously arrested, nor if any resulted in criminal convictions.
