SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WCAX) – A Massachusetts court has thrown out drug trafficking charges against a former Burlington School Board member after the judge ruled police made an illegal search.
Rida Kori was arrested in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in September 2024 after police say they found cash and 3,000 envelopes, or 86 grams, of suspected heroin in his car.
Kedar Ismail, Kori’s attorney, filed a motion to suppress the evidence last month, arguing that police searched his car without a warrant or probable cause. A judge agreed, and this week dismissed the case.
“The stop wasn’t… the whole thing wasn’t right. No reasonable suspicion, no probable cause. They violated his rights. It was a pretextual stop,” Ismail said.
Kori resigned his position on the school board after his arrest, but his lawyer says he would like to win that seat back.
