Drug trafficking charges only apply when the defendant transports controlled substances across county lines; distribution charges can apply simply because a search of the defendant’s property yielded a large quantity of illegal drugs.
Unless you have faced charges for them, you probably have not thought much about the differences between various drug crimes. Most people who have walked with drugs in their pockets or driven with drugs in their cars have thought of drug crimes in terms of “there is possession, and then there is the bad stuff.” In fact, depending on the quantity of drugs in your possession, you can get charged with drug possession with intent to distribute, which is a felony. If the police are accusing you of something much more serious than keeping a bag of weed in your pocket or a few pills of Xanax in a pill box, contact the Atlanta drug trafficking defense lawyers at Ghanayem & Rayasam.
Georgia Drug Trafficking Laws
There are plenty of drug-related reasons a person can get felony charges, but except for situations where physical violence is involved, drug trafficking is the most serious drug crime of them all. The sentence varies according to the quantity of the drugs, but for trafficking large quantities, the minimum sentence for a drug trafficking conviction is 25 years in prison, and the maximum sentence is life in prison.
Media images of drug trafficking cases often show drug traffickers transporting enormous quantities of drugs and selling them at a markup, so they travel with plenty of weapons to protect their hoards of drugs and cash. You can be charged with and convicted of drug trafficking without fulfilling all the functions of a villain in an action movie. All it takes is crossing from one county into another or crossing the state border into Georgia with a quantity of illegal drugs greater than or equal to X grams is in your possession. The value of X varies from one drug to another.
Possession of Illegal Drugs With Intent to Distribute
Possession of illegal drugs with intent to distribute means that you have a large quantity of drugs under your control, meaning that the drugs are in your residence, car, or luggage. The prosecution assumes that you intended for multiple people to consume the drugs based on the sheer quantity of the drugs; there does not need to be any evidence of you discussing selling the drugs or hosting a rave or other event where you would provide drugs to guests. While possession with intent to distribute is not nearly as bad as drug trafficking, the sentence for a conviction of this crime ranges from ten to 40 years in prison.
Atlanta Tampering Drug Trafficking Defense Lawyer
A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are accused of a felony drug offense such as drug trafficking or possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Contact the defense lawyers at Ghanayem & Rayasam in Atlanta, Georgia about your case.