Drug trafficking charges can carry penalties that will devastate the lives of any convicted of the crime. Drug trafficking will lead to decades in prison, serious financial consequences, limited travel freedoms and much more, and they require a Drug Crimes Lawyer with the skill to defend such a high-level offense. The Blanch Law Firm is a premier criminal defense firm comprised of some of the top drug trafficking lawyer teams in America.
Our drug crime lawyers have over fifty years of combined experience in drug trafficking trials and provide top-notch legal counsel to each client we serve. Our successful track record of defending anyone accused of Drug Trafficking comes from our results-driven approach to defending drug crimes. We assign five or more members of our drug crimes lawyer team to every case, assuring the best outcome possible for every client.
Among our many successful cases, our drug trafficking lawyer team has achieved the following results: Our client was indicted as part of an international cocaine trafficking ring, accused of conspiring to smuggle the substance in from the Dominican Republic and distribute it in the United States. The Blanch Law Firm was able to secure a deal so that our client pled to a lesser charge as was given a sentence with probation but not jail.
Among our many high profile defense cases: A client involved in the Federal criminal case alleging former Governor Elliot Spitzer’s association with a prostitution ring known as Emperor’s Club VIP. We have been featured in Page 6 of the NY Post for our representation of a current television celebrity and model. The Blanch Law Firm again made the papers when our client, accused of attempted murder of two police officers who had been shot at close range with shot gun, was declared “Not Responsible” under what is also known as the insanity defense.
The federal government’s drug trafficking laws are stiff, and the penalties are severe. Even a drug trafficking conviction involving seemingly small amounts of cocaine, meth or LSD can lead to a minimum of five years in jail. State drug trafficking laws are not less severe, and New York’s Rockefeller Laws have handed down serious penalties over the decades. Even with the recent repeal of some of the minimum sentencing requirements, New York State drug laws are some of the most severe in the nation.
What are the Most Important Factors in Determining Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Drug Crimes?
#1) “Weight of the Substance”
#2) Marijuana Potency and the “Marijuana Conversion Ratio”
One of the most important factors that determine the federal sentencing guidelines – and also the appropriate charge on the state level – is the weight of the narcotics or drugs that the person is charged with possessing or distributing.
The variation in the weight of the substance is probably the greatest determinant of what the charges and also what the appropriate federal guidelines warrant.
One of the ways in which the defense attorneys are able to make the plea offer or the sentencing recommendation better is to call into question the weight of the substance.
Example – K2 Manufacturing and Distribution
If someone gets arrested with some substance in its final form, yet they’re also in possession of ingredients that are necessary to make additional quantities of narcotics.
For example, if you get caught with damiana leaves and also with the special chemicals that get added to them for the manufacturing of K2 (which is synthetic marijuana) the government is able to calculate how much additional drugs you’re able to make.
They do this by combining the quantity of the raw ingredients that you are in possession of to determine what the total output that you are capable of making – in terms of drugs – would be.
So, in this hypothetical, the government would combine the weight of the damiana leaves with these special chemicals in the appropriate ratios to determine what the final output that you would have been able to make is.
How Do You Effectively Represent a Defendant Facing Charges of Manufacturing or Distributing K2?
The defense attorney’s job is to argue with the government about how they are wrong on the science and how they are wrong on calculating what the total output would have been.
For example, the defense attorney could argue that there wasn’t enough of one ingredient to make the quantity that the government is alleging someone was possessing.
By lowering the weight of the drug is even a little bit the overall disposition of the case can change greatly.
What about the Marijuana Potency?
Another way that a defense attorney is able to obtain a better resolution of the case or argue for a better sentence (below guideline sentence) affirms judge yes you argue that the sentencing guidelines overstate the actual weight and potency of the substance.
Under the sentencing guidelines, some substances do not have a place in the drug weight sentencing chart. However, there exists at provision by which the weight of the substance that is not specified can be converted to marijuana based on a predetermined ratio that, that is based on the potency of the substance and its effects when compared to marijuana.
What is the “Marijuana Conversion Ratio?”
The “marijuana conversion ratio” is pre–determined based on testimony given to the sentencing Commission by chemists and scientists about the psychological and physiological effects of marijuana on an individual after consumption.
For example, the potency ratio between marijuana and synthetic marijuana (also known as K2) is one two 146. So, possession of 1 gram of K2 is the equivalent of possessing 146 grams of marijuana.
Since possession on the federal level is naturally over 1 gram it is very common that you end up with a very large weight of the substance based on this conversion ratio.
What defense attorneys are able to do is to argue that the predetermined ratio of this miracle marijuana conversion overstates the weight of the actual substance. And the defense attorney is able to argue to the judge and to the prosecutor hopefully with an affidavit from another scientist that the judge an the judge should use a lower marijuana conversion ratio in determining the weight of the substance, therefore, lowering the sentencing guidelines.
If you are facing a drug trafficking charge, contact the drug crimes lawyer team at The Blanch Law Firm today. Our highly experienced team of drug trafficking lawyers will devote the necessary time and attention to providing you the best defense possible. Contact The Blanch Law Firm today.
