Have you been arrested and charged with drug trafficking offenses? A drug defense attorney from The Zeiger Firm can fight to obtain a favorable resolution to your charges. We do this by highlighting weaknesses in the government’s case and standing up for your rights when investigators have unlawfully obtained evidence from you.
When you want to contest your charges, we can help. Contact us for an initial consultation to learn how our drug crime defense lawyers can guide you through the criminal justice process.
How an Experienced Criminal Defense Lawyer Can Help If You Are Facing Drug Trafficking Charges
A drug trafficking criminal defense lawyer from The Zeiger Firm can work to resolve your charges by:
- Thoroughly investigating your charges to recover all available evidence
- Evaluating your legal options and potential defense strategies
- Ensuring that prosecutors respect your speedy trial rights and moving to dismiss your case for unreasonable delays in bringing you to trial
- Pursuing other evidence that may support your case strategy, such as seeking to reveal identities of confidential informants and impeachment evidence, such as informants’ criminal history or current plea deals
- Moving to suppress evidence unlawfully obtained by investigators
- Filing motions to quash charges for insufficient evidence to bring you to trial
- Presenting a compelling defense at trial to show that the prosecution cannot prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt
What Is Drug Trafficking?
Drug trafficking occurs when a person illegally transports controlled substances, including transporting drugs to deliver them to another party for further distribution or to sell the drugs to other people. Under Pennsylvania’s Controlled Substance, Drug, Device, and Cosmetic Act, a person engages in trafficking when they manufacture, deliver, or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver any controlled substance when such person does not have the required registration to manufacture or deliver drugs, such as licensure by a state healthcare practitioner board. Trafficking also occurs when a person knowingly creates, delivers, or possesses with intent to deliver a counterfeit controlled substance.
Federal law also defines trafficking as knowingly or intentionally manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a controlled substance or counterfeit substance, or possessing with the intent to do any of the above.
A defendant may face drug trafficking charges at the state or federal level. Federal charges may come into play when a trafficking offense occurs across state lines or national borders or when a defendant uses the U.S. Postal Service to traffic drugs. Otherwise, state prosecutors may handle drug trafficking charges for offenses that occur entirely within the state’s borders.
Unfortunately, defendants charged with federal drug trafficking face much harsher penalties than those imposed under state law, with federal law imposing significant mandatory minimum sentences for many drug trafficking crimes.
Potential Penalties for Drug Trafficking
Drug trafficking convictions can result in serious consequences for a defendant. Under Pennsylvania law, a drug trafficking conviction constitutes a felony offense whose penalties include prison time of a year or more plus the potential of thousands of dollars in fines. The specific sentencing ranges for a conviction will depend on factors such as the type of drug(s) involved, the quantity of drugs, and whether a defendant has previous drug trafficking convictions.
Penalties for most drugs will result in a multiyear prison term. However, convictions for marijuana trafficking carry lesser penalties that range from one to five years in prison, depending on the quantity involved.
State law imposes aggravated penalties upon adults who traffic drugs to minors, including a mandatory minimum sentence of one year or two years if the defendant:
- Intended to promote habitual drug use
- Intended to engage a minor in the trafficking, transportation, delivery, manufacturing, or sale of drugs
- Committed the offense within 1,000 feet of a public, private, or parochial school, college, or university
- Committed the offense on a school bus or within 500 feet of a school bus stop
In addition to prison time and fines, courts can impose other penalties for a drug trafficking conviction, like asset forfeiture. State law authorizes courts to impose fines above those specifically listed to exhaust the assets the defendant used in their trafficking offense or the proceeds they earned from their offense. The state can also file a petition for the forfeiture of the defendant’s assets used to facilitate drug trafficking or gained from trafficking.
Defenses You Can Raise to Drug Trafficking
When facing federal drug charges, you may have various factual or legal defenses you can raise to contest the state’s case and seek a reduction or dismissal of your charges. An experienced criminal defense attorney will identify defense strategies that may apply to your case.
Common defenses used in drug trafficking cases include:
- Lack of Possession – You might contest a drug trafficking charge by proving that you did not have actual possession of the drugs (i.e., having drugs on your person) or constructive possession (i.e., drugs under your custody and control). In many cases, arguing a lack of possession hinges on showing that the defendant did not know of the presence of the drugs.
- Quantity Calculation – A defendant might seek a reduction in the severity of their charges, including a potential reduction from a charge of possession with intent to deliver to a simple possession charge, by contesting the alleged quantity of drugs.
- Identity of Substance – Defendants may fight drug charges by arguing that the substance(s) do not qualify as controlled substances.
- Lack of Intent – Depending on the quantity of drugs involved, a defendant may avoid a trafficking drug crime conviction by arguing that they did not intend to transport or sell the drugs but rather possessed them for personal consumption.
- Illegal Search and Seizure – Many drug trafficking cases involve allegations that police unlawfully stopped and searched a defendant, including by initiating a traffic stop without reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation or criminal offense, conducting a vehicle search without probable cause or exigent circumstances, or searching a residence, office, or other building without a warrant backed by probable cause.
- Unlawfully Obtained Statements – Defendants may file motions to suppress statements they made to police by arguing that investigators violated their rights, such as failing to advise defendants of their Miranda rights before questioning, ignoring defendants’ invocation of their rights, or coercing a confession or inculpatory statements out of the defendant.
Contact Our Experienced Philadelphia Drug Trafficking Lawyer for a Free Initial Consultation
Following an arrest on state or federal drug trafficking charges, you need skilled legal representation to defend your rights, reputation, and future. Discover how our firm can help you fight controlled substance charges and pursue a favorable resolution to the prosecution.
Contact The Zeiger Firm today for a free and confidential case evaluation with an experienced drug crime defense lawyer.
