Safety Concerns After Agreeing to Act as a Confidential Informant
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed January 1, 2026
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I was arrested, but distribution of a controlled substance. The officer said what I like to help myself by coming a confidential informant for him. I replied, yes. Inside. Paperwork, our contract that I would cooperate as an informant. However, I gave him Information in a controlled by. Doing the controlled by the person that we set up saw them in the vehicle. I told you the officer that I was burnt and he still wants me to continue to purchase drugs from people although I told him I appeared for my life.
Attorney Answer
Stop doing controlled buys, and do not have another conversation with that officer until you have a defense lawyer. You told him you were burned and he asked you to keep going — that is the moment to stop, not to push through.
A few things it is important you understand about the position you are in.
The paperwork you signed with the officer is not a plea agreement and it is not a dismissal. Whatever benefit you are hoping for on a distribution charge is something a prosecutor and ultimately a judge control, not the officer working with you. People routinely finish months of cooperation and discover that nothing was ever committed to in a form anyone is bound by. If someone has promised you a specific outcome, the question to ask is whether the prosecutor's office has agreed to it in writing.
You also signed that agreement while under arrest and without a lawyer, and you have been giving information — including information about a buy where you were recognized — with no one in the room whose only job is protecting you. Anything you say to that officer can be used, and cooperation does not create confidentiality between you and law enforcement.
And you are describing a safety situation, not a legal technicality. You were seen. You told the officer you were burned. Being asked to continue buying after you have been identified is exactly the circumstance where informants get hurt.
What you can do
1. Do not do another buy. If you have a scheduled one, do not go. 2. Get a criminal defense lawyer now. If you cannot afford one, ask the court immediately for appointed counsel — you are entitled to ask, and being charged with distribution is more than enough reason. 3. Until you have that lawyer, stop discussing the case or the cooperation with the officer. You can say you are represented or seeking counsel and end the conversation politely. 4. Do not write out your own account of what happened. Notes you create yourself are not protected by attorney-client privilege, can be seized or subpoenaed, and can be used to impeach you if your testimony later differs. Instead preserve the records that already exist — texts, call logs, emails, receipts, photos and location history — along with the names and contact details of any witnesses, and give your account to your attorney verbally. Keep it for your lawyer only. 5. Get a copy of whatever you signed. If you were not given one, your lawyer can demand it. 6. If you have been threatened or feel you are in immediate danger, treat that as its own emergency and tell your lawyer first. Do not handle it through the officer. 7. Have your lawyer, not you, deal with the officer and the prosecutor about whether any cooperation continues and on what written terms.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I back out of the agreement I signed?
That is a question for a defense lawyer who can read the actual document and talk to the prosecutor, and it is one of the main reasons to get one immediately. What is clear is that continuing to do buys after you have been identified is not a decision you should be making alone, under pressure, in the middle of a pending charge.
Will cooperating get my distribution charge dropped?
Not automatically, and not because an officer says so. Charging decisions and plea terms belong to the prosecutor and the court. If someone has offered you a specific outcome, the only version worth relying on is one your lawyer can confirm in writing with the prosecutor's office.
Can I ask for a lawyer now even though I already agreed to cooperate?
Yes, at any point. Having signed something does not waive your right to counsel on the charge, and it does not obligate you to keep talking. Say clearly that you want a lawyer and stop discussing the case until you have one.
