When Should You Contact a Nevada Drug Crimes Defense Lawyer?

Drug trafficking, the illegal import, export, sale, or distribution of controlled substances, is a serious charge in both federal and state courts. If you are charged with drug trafficking in Nevada, you must be defended by a Las Vegas drug crimes lawyer.

Unlike a possession charge, a trafficking charge suggests a high level of involvement in the drug trade and large quantities of illegal drugs. Penalties for a conviction may include years in prison, a costly fine, and a criminal record that will affect your life negatively for many years to come.

In the State of Nevada, if you are under investigation by federal law enforcement authorities, if you’ve been arrested, or if you are facing federal drug trafficking charges, immediately seeking the help of a Las Vegas drug crimes attorney must be your number one priority.

What is the Controlled Substances Act?

The Controlled Substances Act of 1971 is the federal statute that regulates the importation, production, distribution, possession, and use of controlled substances in the United States.

The Controlled Substances Act makes it a federal crime to manufacture, dispense, or distribute a controlled substance or a counterfeit controlled substance. This includes cannabis, street drugs like cocaine and heroin, and prescribed drugs such as OxyContin.

Counterfeit controlled substances include anything falsely identified as a controlled substance or anything that has a label or container with a trademark, trade name, or imprint of a drug or chemical manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser without that party’s consent or authorization.

What Are the Specific Federal Drug Trafficking Charges?

Common drug trafficking-related federal charges include:

  1. Conspiracy to traffic drugs: You may be charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs if federal authorities have evidence that you are part of an organized effort to traffic drugs, even if you do not personally handle the drugs.
  2. Importation and transportation of drugs: A conviction for moving controlled substances across state lines or international borders often entails severe penalties.
  3. Manufacturing controlled substances: The manufacturing and production of illegal drugs may trigger a trafficking charge if those illegal drugs are intended for distribution or sale.
  4. Possession with the intent to distribute: This is usually the charge if someone is found with an amount of illegal drugs large enough to suggest the intention to distribute or sell those drugs.

What About Prescription Medicines?

Federal drug trafficking charges are not restricted to street drugs like cocaine and heroin. Federal drug trafficking charges may also apply to stolen or fraudulently obtained prescription drugs such as Vicodin, Adderall, Percocet, and OxyContin.

These drugs have legitimate medical applications, but they are sometimes diverted for illegal use and distribution. Sometimes prescriptions are forged, but in other cases, healthcare professionals have prescribed drugs for conditions or in quantities that are not needed for medical reasons.

How Will a Drug Crimes Lawyer Effectively Represent You?

To convict you of drug trafficking in a federal court, the government must prove that you trafficked or intended to traffic drugs.

However, you cannot be convicted of trafficking if your defense lawyer can prove the drugs were intended for your own personal use or that you did not know you were in possession of the drugs.

If you face a federal drug trafficking charge, your Las Vegas drug crimes lawyer will develop and present to the court an effective defense on your behalf.

What Defense Will Your Attorney Present?

Depending on the details of your drug trafficking case, your Las Vegas drug crimes attorney will probably offer one of the following defenses:

  1. Your rights were violated by the police in the course of an investigation or interrogation, at a traffic stop, during a search of your vehicle or property, or while making an arrest.
  2. The government’s evidence against you is unreliable, inaccurate, or insufficient to demonstrate your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
  3. You did not intend to traffic drugs. You honestly did not know that you were in possession of illegal drugs, or you intended the drugs exclusively for your personal use.
  4. The substance was improperly identified, and what the police found and confiscated was not, in fact, an illegal or controlled substance.
  5. You were lured or entrapped into trafficking drugs by a police officer or an informant. However, the police know the rules, so entrapment is rarely an effective defense.

Will Your Drug Trafficking Case Go to Trial?

In Nevada, if you are charged by federal law enforcement authorities with trafficking illegal drugs, you must be advised and represented – immediately – by a Las Vegas criminal defense attorney.

A Las Vegas defense attorney who represents clients in federal drug cases will negotiate with the U.S. Attorney to have the charge dropped or reduced. Your defense attorney may also file with the court a motion to suppress particular evidence or a motion to dismiss the case completely.

You may be offered a plea bargain. Discuss the details of any plea bargain with your attorney. Generally speaking, if the evidence against you is persuasive, you should ask your attorney to negotiate for a reasonable plea bargain, but if you’re not guilty, you should insist on a jury trial.

In a federal drug trafficking trial, your defense lawyer will cast doubt on the evidence against you, offer an aggressive defense on your behalf, and then ask the jurors to return a not guilty verdict. But how can you find a Las Vegas attorney who will present your defense effectively?

Goodwin Law Group Will Defend You Against Federal Drug Charges

Goodwin Law Group defends clients who are charged by federal authorities with drug crimes. Defense attorney Charles Goodwin will develop and provide an effective defense, fight for your rights, and bring your federal drug trafficking case to its best possible resolution.

If you are charged with any drug crime by federal or state authorities in or near the Las Vegas area, do not plead guilty – that means a conviction – and do not try to act as your own lawyer. Too much will be at risk. Instead, promptly call Goodwin Law Group at 702-819-8242.

Attorney Charles Goodwin will thoroughly investigate the allegations made against you, discuss possible defense strategies and potential plea bargains, and fight aggressively on your behalf for the justice you need.