Beverly Police Miscue Leads To Dropped Charges In Drug Case

BEVERLY, MA — The Essex County District Attorney's office won't prosecute two men who were accused of possessing two unlicensed handguns and nearly a half pound of cocaine and heroin when Beverly police searched a Cabot Street apartment in October 2017. That's because police did not have justification to enter the apartment while they waited for a search warrant, according to an October ruling by Essex County Judge James Lang.

Lang also wrote police violated the rights of Kevin Sanchez, 25, of Saugus, and Anthony Augusta, 27, of Beverly, by using information obtained in the unjustified search to obtain a search warrant. While prosecutors were forced to drop the most serious charges against the two men, they will move forward in prosecuting other charges stemming from the incident against Sanchez and Augusta. According to the Salem News, which first reported this story, defense attorneys may be working on a plea bargain with prosecutors to resolve the outstanding complaints.