Police and prosecutors often take drug crimes very seriously. Even when the crime is potentially a lower-level offense, prosecutors’ offices might give you no leeway on sentences and might not even offer meaningful plea agreements.
Our lawyers can work to fight the charges you face and get charges dropped or dismissed. Whether your case is a state charge or federal charge, we can stand up for you in court and fight to help you keep your freedom.
For a free case review, call Kenny, Burns & McGill’s drug crimes lawyers today at (215) 423-5500.
Are Drug Crimes State or Federal Crimes?
Generally speaking, drug crimes can be both state and federal offenses in many cases. Federal charges usually result when the drugs in question travel over state lines. Even so, the DEA often investigates drug rings and dealers, making those cases federal.
Technically, both Pennsylvania and the U.S. have laws criminalizing possession, manufacturing, sale, and possession with the intent to deliver/distribute. Which jurisdiction issues charges will typically just depend on who investigated or arrested you.
Often, when facing both federal and state charges, a federal detainer will be issued to hold you for federal court. Local prosecutors will also typically let the federal case go first, then charge you afterward or after the federal charges fail.
This could ultimately mean being convicted and sentenced on both charges, as being charged by a state and federal government for the same crime does not violate the Double Jeopardy clause.
What Are the Most Serious Drug Crimes in Bensalem?
Generally, the most serious drug crimes are those involving manufacturing and sale/distribution.
Drug crimes involving personal use and possession can still result in jail time and a significant criminal record, but they are not high-level crimes in most cases. Generally, this will include things like possession of a small amount of marijuana – which may be punished without jail – and illegal possession of prescription drugs, drug paraphernalia, etc.
More serious crimes include the following:
- Selling drugs/drug trafficking
- Delivering large quantities of drugs
- Possession of dangerous drugs like fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and meth
- Growing large amounts of marijuana
- Producing/manufacturing drugs like crystal meth
- Misusing prescription authority.
Can You Get Jail Time for a First-Time Drug Offense?
Most of the serious drug crimes listed above do allow jail time for a first-time offense. However, even most lower-level drug offenses do include a possibility of jail time.
Even in cases where you avoid jail, parole and house arrest can be serious penalties as well. House arrest or any crime requiring electronic monitoring can be expensive. Along with this, drug crimes often carry hefty fines.
Strategies to Beat Drug Charges in Bensalem
Many drug charges are based on police encounters that involve searches and seizures, including your eventual arrest. These can be challenged, as can the ultimate charges you face, often using these strategies:
Challenging Reasonable Suspicion
Police cannot stop you and investigate you without reasonable suspicion. Merely suspecting you of being a criminal is not enough.
Many illegal stops involve racial profiling or claims of “suspicious activity” with no actual legal backing. If a stop or a frisk/pat-down is initiated without reasonable suspicion, the fruits of that search – even drugs – cannot be used as evidence.
Challenging Searches
Searches require probable cause or permission. Many people end up being charged because they granted police permission to search them, so you should always be clear that you do not consent to a search.
If police do not have probable cause but search you anyway, anything they find can be thrown out. Illegal searches of homes, cars, backpacks, dorm rooms, and other areas often yield illegally obtained evidence.
Challenging Arrest
Police have much more freedom to search your person and your bags after arresting you, but they also need probable cause before an arrest.
Police often get this probable cause from their own observations and discussions with you. Especially during a sting operation or “controlled buy,” police might actively ask you to sell them drugs, thus getting enough evidence to arrest you when you commit a crime in front of them.
Unless they actually see you with drugs, smell drugs on you, or feel them through a pat-down, it is hard for police to get the probable cause needed for a search or arrest.
Challenging Possession
For crimes involving possession, police need to prove that you knew the drugs were there and that they were either on your person or in a place you had access to.
When police find drugs on your person, in your pockets, or in a bag you are carrying, it is hard to deny you knew they were there. However, you might have no knowledge of drugs found in a shared location like a car or apartment.
Entrapment
One defense people commonly want to use with drug crimes is entrapment. For entrapment defenses, you need to show that police pushed you into committing a crime you had no intent or means to commit before that. However, Supreme Court cases have greatly limited when this defense can be used, and it often does not work for controlled buys or sting operations.
Getting Bail for Drug Charges
It is imperative that you get bail and fight your case from the outside. Having to spend time in jail while you await trial often leads to worse trial outcomes and lower morale. Additionally, if you are working and being a part of the community even while facing charges, it can help show the sentencing judge that you are not a threat that needs to be put behind bars.
Our lawyers can make motions for release, argue for reduced bail, and provide evidence of your connections to the community. Bail should only be denied if you are deemed a danger to the community or a serious flight risk. Evidence of this simply does not exist for many non-violent drug crimes.
However, if you were found with a gun and cash and are deemed a “drug trafficker,” it might be harder to get bail.
Call Our Drug Crime Defense Lawyers in Bensalem Today
For a free case evaluation, call (215) 423-5500 for a free case review with the drug crime lawyers at Kenny, Burns & McGill.
