How Do Our Criminal Defense Attorneys Handle Drug Trafficking Cases?
How do we handle drug trafficking cases? Drug trafficking means committing a crime with a large amount of a controlled substance, a drug, and it can be committed in four different ways: possession, transportation, manufacturing, or distribution.
Possession is just what it sounds like, having the drug. Maybe they’re in someone’s pocket, but they don’t have to be. There’s something called constructive possession, which just means controlling the drugs. So, if they’re in the back seat of the car that the person is driving, or the basement of that person’s house, that might be enough for the state to prove possession.
Manufacturing means making the drug. Distribution means sharing the drug with someone else or giving it to someone else. And transportation means moving it from one place to another.
There’s a similar crime called conspiracy to traffic, and that just simply means agreeing to do one of those four things with someone else. The punishment for conspiracy is exactly the same as the punishment for committing the crime itself. And the punishment requires two things: one, paying a big fine, and two, going to prison. Even if the person convicted of drug trafficking has never been in trouble a day in their life, they have to go to prison, unless they provide what’s called substantial assistance, and that means giving information to the police about someone else committing a crime, usually a crime involving drugs.
So, there are only three ways of dealing with the case. Either, it’s going to be a trial, a challenge to whether the state can prove the case, it’s going to be a plea bargain, where maybe we beg to plead guilty to something less than trafficking, or a plea bargain that involves substantial assistance.
These are very complicated cases. They’re extremely fact specific. Your case is not like anybody else’s. So, it’s important that you talk with an expert, someone who’s been through this before. Give us a call at Kurtz & Blum. You can reach us at 919-832-7700. We’ve been through this again and again and again, and we’ll be glad to give you some wisdom and some guidance. At Kurtz & Blum, we’re in your corner.
Seth A. Blum is a graduate of Tufts University and Duke Law School. He also holds a Master’s Degree from the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy Studies. Seth is an experienced trial attorney who is licensed and has tried cases in both North Carolina State and Federal Courts. Seth is an Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at the University of North Carolina School of Law. He regularly teaches other lawyers advanced trial techniques.
