NYC Federal Drug Lawyer

There Are Defenses for Federal Drug Crimes

While federal drug prosecutions are very serious matters, there may be certain strategies that could prove successful in your defense and lead to the dismissal or reduction of charges. 

First, many drug cases involve the forcible stops, searches, and seizures of evidence from persons on the street, vehicles, residences, offices, and storage units.  Often enough, police and agents conduct such stops and subsequent searches without probable cause to have made the initial stop of the person or car, or without obtaining a warrant authorizing the search of premises.  Sometimes, agents rely upon the alleged voluntary consent of parties to carry out these intrusive measures.    In all of these circumstances, constitutional challenges may be brought contesting the right of law enforcement to have made the stop, conducted the search, and seized the evidence sought to be admitted at trial.

Second, even in those cases where a search warrant was obtained, it may be possible to attack the basis for the warrantor to offer evidence that certain information in the warrant application was false.  In addition, a challenge to the scope or breadth of the warrantor to the manner of its execution may be advanced.

Third, in almost all narcotics cases, the government relies upon information and evidence provided to them by paid confidential informants or co-conspirators who expect, as a result of their work with law enforcement, to receive substantial benefits such as sentencing reductions.   In the hands of a capable and skilled NYC federal drug crime lawyer, these witnesses can be shown to be inherently unreliable and untrustworthy sources whose testimony should be discounted or even disregarded.   

Fourth, there are times when the government uses coercive and unjustifiable measures to ensnare or entrap individuals in criminal activity to which they are otherwise resistant.   So long as the accused was not previously involved in or predisposed to drug dealing, an entrapment defense may be viable.   

Fifth,  not everyone who is present when narcotics trafficking is discussed or even carried out can be proven to have intended to promote or support such activities.   Presence alone even coupled with the knowledge that others are committing crimes is not sufficient to show that an accused joined a criminal venture.  More must be shown than this. 

Sixth, sometimes those who were part of a narcotics conspiracy make a decision to leave criminality behind and renounce their participation in the drug business to the others involved.  Where this can be shown,   a defense of renunciation may be presented. 

Seventh, there are cases where a person who transported or stored a package or suitcase may not have known that within the package or suitcase was a quantity of a controlled substance.   Under these circumstances, a defense involving a lack of knowledge may prove successful.    It bears noting, however, that federal law permits knowledge to be inferred if a person is willfully blind to the likelihood that there were drugs present. 

Sentences For Federal Drug Crimes

Sentencing for convictions of federal drug offenses depends first and foremost upon the statute of conviction.  Federal law generally contains different minimum and maximum statutory penalties depending upon the nature of the drug in question and the number of such drugs involved.  Authorized sentences also depend upon whether serious injury or death occurred in connection with the offense, i.e., in cases with drug overdoses, and whether the offender has previously been convicted of a drug offense.  Cases involving certain small amounts of controlled substances may not involve mandatory minimum sentences whereas others may have mandatory minimum sentences of ten or more years even though the quantity is similarly small.   Under the law, so long as a mixture of a substance contains a distinct amount of the illicit drug in question, it is the total weight of the mixture regardless of its purity that governs.  

For cases involving less than five hundred grams of cocaine or less than five grams of cocaine base or crack cocaine,  federal law punishes violations with up to twenty years in prison.  There is no mandatory minimum sentence that applies.  For cases involving less than five kilograms of cocaine or less than fifty grams of crack cocaine, there is a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum sentence of forty years in federal prison which applies.   For cases involving five kilograms or more of cocaine or fifty grams or more of crack cocaine, a mandatory minimum of ten years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment applies.

For cases involving less than one hundred grams of heroin, the law provides for up to twenty years in prison upon conviction.  There is no mandatory minimum that applies.   For cases involving more than one hundred grams but less than one thousand grams of heroin, there is a five-year mandatory minimum and a maximum sentence of forty years that apply.   For cases involving one kilogram or more of heroin, a mandatory minimum of ten years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment applies. 

For cases involving fentanyl with quantities of less than forty grams, federal law punishes violations with up to ten years in prison.  There is no mandatory minimum for such violations.  For cases involving less than four hundred grams of fentanyl, there is a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of forty years that apply.  For violations involving more than four hundred grams of fentanyl, there is a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment which applies. 

For cases involving less than fifty grams of mixtures containing methamphetamine, federal law punishes violations with up to ten years in prison.  There is no mandatory minimum for such violations.  For cases involving less than five hundred grams of methamphetamine, there is a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of forty years in prison that applies.  For violations involving more than five hundred grams of methamphetamine, there is a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment which applies.

For federal cases involving marijuana,  the penalties upon conviction are as follows:  for cases involving up to forty-nine plants or up to mixtures of less than fifty kilograms,  there is no mandatory minimum and a maximum sentence of five years in prison; for cases involving more than forty-nine but less than one hundred plants or more than fifty kilograms but less than one hundred kilograms of marijuana, there is no mandatory minimum but the maximum potential sentence increases to up to twenty years in prison; for cases involving more than one-hundred but less than one thousand plants or more than one hundred but less than one thousand kilograms of marijuana,  there is a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of forty years in prison;  and for those cases involving 1000 or more plants or more than 1000 kilograms of marijuana, there is an applicable mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment upon conviction. 

For most drugs found on Schedule III, there is no mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum sentence of ten years in federal prison.  For Schedule IV substances, once again there is no mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum sentence of five years. For drugs found on Schedule V, the maximum sentence authorized is one year in federal jail if the offender has not previously been convicted of a controlled substance offense. 

A conviction for engaging in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise carries a mandatory minimum of twenty years in federal prison. 

There are obviously many other controlled substances that one may be accused of unlawfully possessing, trafficking, manufacturing, or importing.  The relevant statutes which prescribe the applicable minimum or maximum sentences that may be imposed for such violations must be carefully scrutinized and understood.

Like all federal felonies, the actual sentence to be imposed by a court upon conviction for a drug crime will be decided upon after calculation of the applicable advisory federal sentencing guideline.  For controlled substance convictions under the guidelines, the primary moving force is the total quantity of drugs for which the defendant is to be held responsible.  Federal law does not limit that quantity to that which a person is arrested with, or otherwise possesses.  Nor does federal law limit the quantity to that which a person was involved in selling to others if they are part of a larger group that distributed drugs as an ongoing nature.  Instead, federal sentencing law generally counts as relevant conduct in all quantities for which the person was involved or reasonably understood his or her co-conspirators to have been involved.   After settling on the number of drugs involved, the guidelines also consider such factors as the role the offender played in the offense, the presence of firearms, the use of a location to manufacture, package, or store narcotics, and other similar considerations.  

After the suggested sentencing guideline is calculated, the court will consider the defense’s request that a non-jail or, if not possible, a minimum sentence be imposed.  Strong advocacy about the history and character of the offender must take place and the circumstances which led to the offense must be adequately addressed.   A skilled, passionate plea by defense counsel may, at this stage of the proceedings, make all the difference in the world.  

Speak With An NYC Federal Drug Lawyer Today

If you or a loved one have been indicted for a federal narcotics offense,  nothing is more important than having a tough, aggressive, and experienced defense counsel on your side.     NYC federal drug lawyer Fred Sosinsky has been representing men and women charged with narcotics conspiracies and similar crimes in the federal courts for more than 30 years.  Call Fred for a case evaluation today.