Kameron Cisneros ’20

Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, New York, NY

This summer I was fortunate enough to complete an internship at the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor in New York City (SNP). This internship was extremely important to me as someone who is greatly interested in attending law school and eventually practicing law. Aside from the direct guidance from the prosecutors in the office, I was surprised at how much second-hand knowledge I was able to acquire from listening to prosecutors converse and by attending various trials. My knowledge of New York State law increased immensely over the summer, as well as my understanding of the criminal law process. Through project involvement, I feel that I contributed in a concrete way to SNP as well as gaining invaluable knowledge on the opioid epidemic and how to combat the crisis through state systems. It was truly an honor to work at the incredibly valuable and unique office that is SNP.

While at SNP, I worked closely with just four undergraduate interns. We were in an ideal location, near City Hall. Two of us got our own cubicles with company desktops, and the other two shared offices with prosecutors. This layout allowed us to readily communicate with prosecutors and with each other. When we would finish our work, we would collectively look up trials to attend in the nearby court rooms, which was one of the most incredible perks of working at this office.

My projects throughout my internship varied tremendously, each one offering new and exciting insights into the world of being a criminal prosecutor. My favorite project was working as a court reader for a case that was on trial regarding a “pill mill”—a medical clinic which is disguised as legitimate, but truly just acts to distribute pain killers to patients so that the patients can sell the pills on the street. As court readers, my fellow Williams intern, Christopher Avila ’21, and I were able to read phone calls that had been transcribed from Russian to English and which were collected from one of the defendant’s phones as a product of a wiretap investigation. Being able to sit at the Prosecutor’s table during such an incredibly important felony trial was truly one of the most memorable experiences that I will carry with me for years to come.

Another assignment which opened my eyes to the process of criminal law was crafting a memorandum in regards to the upcoming modification to the current New York discovery law. I first and foremost learned that discovery obligations are the legal agreements that the prosecutor makes with defense counsel to turn over information that is relevant to the case and which they expect to bring up during trial. Come January 2020, the current discovery obligations for the state of New York will change tremendously. They are currently very liberal, allowing the prosecutors to withhold their discovery information (photos, testimonies, phone calls, etc.) until the day before trial. The new discovery obligations will demand that the prosecutors submit their material 15 days after the trial date is declared. This drastically changes the work of the prosecutors in the SNP office, and the official law is extremely nuanced in working and requirements. So this assignment was truly an honor to complete, and I hope that it will be helpful for all of the prosecutors throughout the office come January 2020.

One last assignment which was especially memorable for me was the research I did for Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan for her presentation before Congress on fentanyl analogs and trafficking. I was instructed to do research on the individual members of the subcommittee, and their position on border control and drug trafficking. Fentanyl—the most dangerous drug related to the opioid crisis in the United States—primarily enters the border from China through postal packages small enough to fit in a single card. Narcotics such as cocaine and heroin are currently being laced with fentanyl analogs, because fentanyl is extremely cheap to produce and much more lethal than contemporary analogs. A majority of the United States is currently unaware of the threat that fentanyl imposes. It was very interesting to research the members of the subcommittee, because a large portion of those member believe that the threat of drug trafficking comes strictly from the Southern Border. I learned so much and was incredibly honored to do research which would benefit the Special Narcotics Prosecutor herself.

Aside from completing these amazing assignments, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend various field trips, including a trip to NYPD headquarters. I found these field trips incredibly valuable, especially when considering the current tensions that exists between the public and police officers. I learned that the SNP relies heavily on the work of the NYPD, and that they are trying their best to be socially just and fair. As a sociology major, it gave me great hope that the NYPD is making serious steps to prove that they are genuinely trying to serve their community and create an environment which is drug free and crime free.

I cannot express how truly thankful I am to have had the opportunity to work at SNP this summer. Without the alumni sponsors of the ’68 Center for Career Exploration, especially the Estate of Mr. George Mead, I would not have been fortunate enough to live in New York City and pursue this internship opportunity without financial worry. The opioid crisis is something that touches a lot of families—regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender, or truly any identifier—which means that it should be a valuable subject to any contemporary American. I intend to take the lessons that I learned from my 10-week internship and apply them to all of my future endeavors, and make sure that my close acquaintances are aware of the threat that fentanyl and opioids pose to Americans today. I cannot wait to see what doors this internship opens for me in the future, but I know that this summer will be one that sticks with me for many to come. I encourage all students who are considering a legal path to look at SNP, and learn what it means to be a criminal prosecutor in America’s biggest city.