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Laredo Drug Trafficking Attorney

Strategic Lawyer for Drug Trafficking Cases

Drug trafficking charges, whether prosecuted under Texas or federal law, are followed by complex, high-stakes cases that can have serious consequences for the accused. If you are charged with drug trafficking in Texas and plan on keeping your freedom intact, you’ll need a Texas drug trafficking attorney that knows how to take complex felony cases to trial and win.

As an accomplished and aggressive federal criminal lawyer, Javier Guzman understands the many complexities of drug trafficking cases and knows what it takes to win. He is a compassionate and creative Laredo drug trafficking attorney, committed to defending his clients’ lives and their constitutional rights. If you need a federal drug trafficking lawyer to defend your life, call Javier Guzman at (956) 516-7198 today.

The Texas laws on drug trafficking

Drug trafficking in Texas is defined under the Texas Controlled Substances Act §481.112, as the manufacture or delivery of controlled substances. How severe your punishment will be under Texas law depends heavily on the amount of the drug possessed and what penalty group that drug falls under.

  • Schedule Group I includes drugs like cocaine, heroin and other opiates, methamphetamine, MDMA, LSD, and marijuana.
  • Schedule Group II includes codeine, hydrocodone, morphine, and other opium derivatives, including PCP.
  • Schedule Group III and Schedule Group IV include many less commonly bought and sold narcotics, stimulants, anabolic steroids, and hallucinogenic substances.

The higher the penalty group (Group I being the highest) the more severe punishment will be.

Can you get drug trafficking charges for marijuana? Marijuana is still a Schedule Group I drug in Texas. So, although many places in Texas are no longer making arrests for small quantities of marijuana, possession of large quantities or manufacture and delivery of marijuana can still mean a charge for drug trafficking.

The federal law on drug trafficking

Federal drug trafficking charges under 21 U.S. Code § 841 are very common because drug trafficking often involves bringing drugs in from out of the state or the country. Federal drug schedules work a bit differently than the drug schedules in Texas and include meaningful differences such as cocaine being listed as Schedule II instead of Schedule I.

Federal drug trafficking charges also depend on the schedule and amount of the drug possessed. The DEA outlines its methodology for scheduling drugs under federal law as follows:

  • Schedule I substances are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
  • Schedule II substances are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence.
  • Schedule III substances are defined as drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.
  • Schedule IV substances are defined as drugs with a low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence.
  • Schedule V substances are defined as drugs with lower potential for abuse than Schedule IV and consist of preparations containing limited quantities of certain narcotics.

The main determinant of whether or not you’ll be facing state or federal drug trafficking charges is whether or not you were caught bringing drugs across state lines, and what law enforcement agency caught you.

“Javier Guzman is a top-notch lawyer. If anyone is facing a case needing a criminal defense attorney, I would highly recommend Javier. I would trust him with my family. Someone who won’t back down and will take cases to trial, unlike most locals.”

– Sean Darvishi | Fellow Attorney

Punishments and penalties for drug trafficking

How many years do you get for drug trafficking in the US? Although these numbers can vary greatly depending on the court you are being charged in, the amount of the drug being trafficked, and the schedule of the drug being trafficked, a rough guide to penalties for drug trafficking follows.

 

Schedule GroupWeightChargeFineJail Time
150 – 2,000 pounds (1 ton)1st-degree felonyUp to $10,0005 – 99 years in prison
1>2,000 poundsEnhanced 1st-degree felonyUp to $100,00010 – 99 years in prison
24 to 400 grams1st-degree felonyUp to $10,0005 – 99 years in prison
2>400 gramsEnhanced 1st-degree felonyUp to $100,00010 – 99 years in prison
3200 to 400 grams1st-degree felonyUp to $10,0005 – 99 years in prison
3>400 gramsEnhanced 1st-degree felonyUp to $100,00010 – 99 years in prison
4200 to 400 grams1st-degree felonyUp to $10,0005 – 99 years in prison
4>400 gramsEnhanced 1st-degree felonyUp to $100,00010 – 99 years in prison

How to beat a drug trafficking charge

You may find leniency if you’re charged with first-time drug possession in Texas, but there are no breaks for those accused of drug trafficking. If you want to stay out of prison, you need to hire a drug trafficking attorney with the ability to go to trial and win your case.

Your attorney will ideally use a combination of their experience in and out of the courtroom to develop and enact your defense. Possible defenses to drug trafficking charges include:

  • Plausible deniability based on lack of information. The government will need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were trafficking drugs. Don’t make it easier for them. Use your right to remain silent when talking to the police, invoke your right to an attorney, and call your Laredo criminal defense lawyer, Javier Guzman.
  • Illegal search and seizure take place when the evidence against you has been obtained illegally. Many law enforcement agencies overstep their boundaries and violate the rights of whomever they want to arrest, which allows your attorney to file to suppress that evidence.
  • Planted or mishandled evidence. It is not uncommon for certain law enforcement officers (a few bad apples)to plant evidence in order to make an arrest that they are under pressure to make. They can also mishandle evidence and make other small mistakes that will make convicting you more difficult.

You will only be able to take advantage of these many defenses to drug trafficking charges if you hire an attorney that has the knowledge and experience to pull them off in a court of law. Do not waste your time with attorneys that don’t go to trial. Call a federal drug trafficking lawyer who knows how to win, like Javier Guzman.

You need a winning drug trafficking attorney. You need Javier Guzman.

Facing drug trafficking charges without the right drug trafficking attorney can mean the end of your freedom. You need the best attorney you can hire to come to your defense if you have any hope of walking away from federal drug charges — and quickly, the prosecution is already building their case.

Javier Guzman is a relentless trial lawyer for federal and state cases based out of Laredo, TX. If you or a loved one has been charged with drug trafficking in Texas, Javier will fight for your rights and your freedom. Call Guzman Law Firm at (956) 516-7198 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.

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Guzman Law Firm offers legal services in Laredo for cases including criminal defense, DWI, divorce, child custody, federal criminal defense & personal injury.

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Guzman Law Firm handles various types of criminal cases including DWI, intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault, murder, family violence, assault, sex cases, possession of drugs, and more.

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Guzman Law Firm handles various types of federal criminal cases including conspiracy to possess drugs, transporting aliens, federal firearm charges, and more.

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Whether you or a loved one were injured because of someone else’s negligence, Guzman Law Firm helps victims obtain the financial compensation and the justice they deserve.
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