Prince William County Drug Distribution Attorney
Speak with a proven Prince William Drug Distribution Attorney
Unlike simple possession, drug distribution and possession with intent to distribute (PWID) have a minimum statutory penalty of five years incarceration if convicted. The Commonwealth of Virginia has extremely harsh penalties for cases that it believes involve the distribution of drugs. Undoubtedly, these charges will have a significant impact and collateral consequences on all aspects of not only your life, but the lives of your loved ones as well. Employment, immigration, security clearance, education are but a few of the areas that a distribution conviction will affect. Most importantly, these charges often come with significant periods of incarceration. You need a proven Prince William County Drug Distribution Attorney to assist you in your case and to fight for you to the very end, so that you and your loved ones will have some peace of mind.
What is Possession?
Every possession case can present problems for a prosecutor. Mere proximity of a person to some contraband (in this instance, drugs) is not enough to prove possession. The prosecutor needs to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that (1) that the drugs were in your possession, and (2) that you were aware that they were drugs. For example, if an officer pulls someone over, and they locate drugs in a car, that (by itself) would not prove that the person in the car was in possession of the drugs. They would need to prove that the person in the car was also aware that the substance in the car was a drug.
To be clear, these cases are often proven with circumstantial evidence such statements by the person (or people) who were close to the drugs (it’s not mine, it’s his), behavior (nervous, jittery behavior, sweating, stuttering) or personal items located close to the contraband (for example a wallet, ID or credit card located in the same backpack / bag that the contraband was located).
Possession with Intent to Distribute
With Drug Distribution charges, the prosecutor has to prove the additional element that the drugs found in your possession were intended to be distributed to someone else. There are a number of ways that prosecutors attempt to do this. If someone has been under surveillance, the prosecutors will attempt to put on eye-witness testimony at trial that someone bought some drugs from you. In addition, if someone happens to be found with a large amount of a drug, that will be used as evidence, as well. And also, if there is evidence of sales, such as baggies, large amounts of money, scales, etc., that will be introduced as evidence at trial.
Just because some of the above elements are present, does not necessarily guarantee a conviction. We can attack that evidence by questioning its credibility, and also by filing motions to suppress that evidence. What an average juror may believe is a personal use amount of marijuana, may be the same amount that the prosecution is arguing that the amount is too much for personal use. Alternatively, a court may find that the the search or seizure was unconstitutional, and force the prosecutor to abandon the use of that evidence at trial.
The sad part, more often than not, is that these types of cases are situations where defendants are in deep addiction and need substance abuse treatment, counseling and rehabilitation rather than incarceration. During the course of your case, we will fight not only to win your case, but also to seek compromise charges and treatment alternatives to incarceration.
If you or someone you care about has been charged in Prince William County for PWID or Distribution of a Schedule I/II Drug, contact the Flynn Law Firm for a free consultation. We are an African American law firm with 8 years of experience with drug distribution cases. These charges are serious, you deserve to be represented by an attorney that you trust and that will fight for you to the very end. Give us a call today for a free consultation.