Drug Crimes

Federal Drug Crimes

Federal drug cases are usually conspiracy cases. A conspiracy is an agreement to commit the crime. The government uses wiretaps, cooperating witnesses, and months of surveillance to build cases against everyone in a distribution network. When indictments come down, they often name ten, twenty, or thirty defendants at once. Each one is exposed to the mandatory minimum for the total quantity attributable to the conspiracy.

Mandatory minimums

Federal drug mandatory minimums are based on substance and weight. Five grams of methamphetamine triggers a five-year mandatory minimum. Fifty grams triggers ten years. Five kilograms of cocaine triggers ten years. These sentences cannot be probated and cannot be reduced by the judge except through a government motion for substantial assistance, a safety-valve departure, or a successful challenge to the drug weight.

Every gram matters. We scrutinize the government’s drug-weight calculations because the difference between 49 grams and 50 grams is five years of a client’s life.

Conspiracy

Federal drug conspiracy under 21 U.S.C. section 846 requires only an agreement to violate federal drug laws. The government does not have to prove that the defendant personally possessed, sold, or transported drugs. A person can be convicted of conspiracy based entirely on phone calls, text messages, and the testimony of cooperators.

The exposure in a conspiracy case is determined by the total quantity reasonably foreseeable to the defendant. That means a low-level participant can face the same mandatory minimum as the organizer if the government can show the participant knew the scope of the operation.

Cooperation and its risks

The government’s most powerful tool in drug cases is section 5K1.1 of the sentencing guidelines: the substantial-assistance motion. A defendant who cooperates and provides useful information can receive a sentence below the mandatory minimum. The decision whether to cooperate is one of the most consequential a defendant will ever make, and it should be made with a lawyer who understands the risks on both sides.

Talk to us

We also defend state drug cases. See also federal drug distribution. If you have been convicted, we handle appeals.

713-224-1747.