Florida designates controlled substances into five schedules based on their approved medical use and how addictive they are. Cocaine is a Schedule II drug, which means it is highly addictive with extremely limited legitimate medical benefits. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), cocaine is sometimes used as a local anesthesia for eye, throat, and ear surgeries.
Cocaine’s popularity as a recreational drug is due to its versatility and makes the user feel euphoric and focused, if only for a short time. Cocaine can get you in big trouble with Sheriff’s Office deputies and Windermere Police. If you are arrested for possessing, distributing, or trafficking in this illegal drug, a Windermere cocaine lawyer knows what to do next. Call our experienced drug attorneys now.
Florida Statutes § 893.13 explains the parameters for cocaine possession and possession with the intent to distribute, including what penalties a conviction can bring. Possession of less than 28 grams of cocaine is an entry level offense in which it is presumed the drugs are for personal use. It is a third-degree felony and a conviction lands the accused in prison for up to five years, along with a fine of up to $5,000, driver’s license suspension and, at the judge’s discretion, community service, probation, and an order for drug treatment.
Even if law enforcement officers discover less than 28 grams of cocaine on you, they can arbitrarily decide to charge you with possession with intent to distribute if you happened to cash your paycheck and are carrying a large amount of money or are less than 1,000 feet from a school when you are stopped. If your home is searched and packaging materials are found, such as plastic baggies, a scale, labels, and a list of names, you can also be charged with the more serious crime based on police suspicions. If you are charged with a second-degree felony for intent to distribute cocaine, you face up to 15 years in prison and double the fine for a third-degree felony.
Do not take chances with your future. The first phone call you should make after a cocaine arrest is to a Windermere attorney.
Twenty-eight grams of cocaine is the magic number that elevates a possession or intent to distribute to trafficking in Florida. You do not even have to be caught manufacturing, transporting, importing, or exporting the drug, but if law enforcement believes you are planning to do so, they can still charge you with trafficking.
Penalties for trafficking, a first-degree felony for possession of at least 28 grams, come with mandatory prison stints. If the amount is less than 200 grams, a conviction means a mandatory sentence of at least three years in prison, and the possibility of up to 30 years, with a fine of up to $50,000. For possessing 200 grams but less than 400 grams, there is a mandatory minimum prison sentence of seven years and fines up to $100,000, and for 400 grams but less than 150 kilograms, minimum incarceration is 15 years with fines of up to $250,000.
A Windermere lawyer from our firm can apply decades of experience fighting your cocaine charges by negotiating lesser ones, representing you at trial to refute what the prosecutor alleges, and mitigating the damages.
You are entitled to a robust defense your attorney will present to a jury of your peers. Every defense is tailored to the facts and circumstances, but some common ones for cocaine infractions include:
A Windermere cocaine attorney takes the charges against you seriously and will protect your rights to a fair trial while working to exonerate you or mitigate the allegations.
Cocaine possession, intent to distribute, or trafficking charges have life-altering penalties attached if you are convicted. In many cases, deputies who find a wad of cash on you can up the charges because they suspect you might be selling, even if you are not. You may not know anything about the drugs, but they can still charge you with constructive possession.
It is impossible to successfully fight the prosecution alone. We are experienced criminal defense attorneys who understand how to protect your rights and successfully defend you because we have a track record of doing just that. If you are arrested on drug charges, call a Windermere cocaine lawyer now.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys