A client with a long criminal record was arrested in a vehicle with a large quantity of drugs. S/he was charged with:
21a-279(a)(1) POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
21a-277(b(2A* POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO SELL
21a-278a(b) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE WITHIN 1,500ft OF A SCHOOL
14-12(a) FAILURE TO RENEW REGISTRATION
The middle two charges were felonies, which means they came with sentences of more than a year incarceration, and up to an eighteen year maximum sentence.
Judges may go gently on first-timers, but this individual was not a first-timer.
Moreover, some crimes are “85%” crimes, and some are “50%” crimes, meaning that for a sentence of a certain period of time, some require the incarcerated person to serve 85% of the time before being released, while others require that just half the time is served.
The particular count of Possession with intent to sell was an 85% crime.
The client has originally gone with another attorney, and came to me after the other attorney told him/her to take an offer the client thought could be better.
It pays to have productive, respectful relationships with State’s Attorneys, and I was able to negotiate a different Possession charge, which dropped it to a 50% crime, saving my client sixteen months incarceration—sixteen that would have been served had the client stayed with the original attorney.
This happened in 2023.
If you are not pleased with your current attorney, please go to my Contact page and reach out to me.
