Crime & Safety

Drug Defendant's Guilty Plea Withdrawn, Released from Jail

Judge orders David Danielli to return to court in November.

David Danielli was in jail for trafficking Oxycodone pills.  In June he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge because state officials told prosecutors that they wanted to question the drug samples in his case.  He was then sentenced to one year in the Norfolk County House of Correction.

A judge released 49-year-old David Danielli on "personal recognizance" yesterday and ordered him to return to court in November.

Danielli is "...believed to be the first defendant to leave a state lock-up since allegations surfaced that a former chemist mishandled tens of thousands of drug samples," according to The Associated Press.

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Danielli's lawyer, John Martin, says that his client pleaded guilty because the evidence was possibly tainted.

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