Virginia Drug Charge Lawyers

Virginia Drug Charge Lawyers

Have you been charged with a drug related crime and don’t know what to do now? It’s very common to be feeling unsure and scared about your future if you have been arrested and now face a drug charge. Our Virginia drug charge lawyers are here to help you through this and fight to get your charges reduced or dismissed. We have helped many people before in our community and we want to provide you with that same support. Please call us today to set up a consultation.

NovaLegalGroup, P.C. also helps residents of Virginia with Legal Matters in: Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Burke, Centreville, Fairfax, Mclean, Oakton, Reston and Springfield.

Understanding Drug Charges

When you are charged with a drug crime in Virginia, you are either going to face penalties for a felony or a misdemeanor If you are convicted. This depends on the details surrounding your arrest and the charges that you are facing. Typically, we are going to look at what types of drugs you were found with, as well as the quantity of the controlled substances. It matters also whether or not there was a reason to believe that you were going to distribute or sell the drugs that were in your possession as opposed to using it for yourself. These types of crimes and charges are open to interpretation and can be very subjective, which gives our Virginia drug charge lawyers room to work with your case and give you avenues to success.

When you hire our Virginia drug crime lawyers to handle your case, you are getting dedicated representation who will fight to get your charges reduced or dropped all together. If this sounds like something you need right now during a very confusing and scary time, then please get in contact with our office right away to set up a free consultation. We are more than happy to hear from you and help you through this. We guarantee three things to you. First, we guarantee when you call our office you will always speak to our lawyers and not a paralegal or administrator. Second, we promise you that we will come up with a personalized plan to handle your case. Lastly, we understand that cost is a concern for people and we will always work to create an extended payment plan based on your financial needs.

Virginia Criminal Possession of Marijuana

If you do not have a prescription from a doctor who is medically licensed to prescribe marijuana and you were found with it, it is going to be considered illegal possession of marijuana. If you are found to have marijuana in a vehicle or a building that you own, however, there is a difficult process that prosecutors have to go through to prove that you owned the marijuana that was discovered by police officers.

Possession of marijuana in Virginia right now is considered to be a misdemeanor and the penalties that the criminal code has established include up to $500 in fines and up to 30 days of incarceration. If you are a second time offender, then the penalty becomes a class one misdemeanor and has up to a year of incarceration, as well as $2500 of fines.

The penalties can be harsher if you were found to be in possession of marijuana with reason to believe that you were going to distribute or sell it. This will depend on how much marijuana that you possess based on the weight. If you have over 5 pounds of marijuana, that would be considered a felony and you could be facing up to $10,000 in fines and anywhere between 5 to 30 years in jail.

If you had between 0.5 ounces and 5 pounds of marijuana, this is going to be considered a Class 5 felony, which can result in up to 10 years in jail with $2500 in fines.

Virginia Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance

If you are found to be in possession of a controlled substance that is not marijuana, then the Virginia criminal code will see this as a crime. You are not allowed to legally have any controlled substance if you do not have a prescription from a medically licensed doctor. You cannot, however, be definitively found guilty of these possessions if you were the owner of the building or the vehicle in which the controlled substances were found. It will be harder for the prosecution to prove that you knew you were in possession of these controlled substances, which is good news for you and our Virginia drug charge lawyers.

Depending on what type of drug that you are found to be in possession of the penalties that your face can vary drastically. Our Virginia drug charge lawyers can help you better understand what you were up against. Generally speaking, if you have a controlled substance under Schedule I and II you could be facing a Class 5 felony for which you could be paying up to $2500 in fines and serving 10 years. If you have a Schedule III drug in your possession, the penalties are a bit lower and this would be considered a Class 1 misdemeanor. The penalties still carry a $2500 fine but the jail term is less, with a maximum of a year incarceration. If you have a Schedule IV drug, this is going to be a Class 2 misdemeanor that comes with a maximum $1000 and up to 180 days incarcerated. If you were in possession of a Schedule V drug, this is a Class 3 misdemeanor with up to $500 of fines. Schedule VI drugs are Class 4 misdemeanors and the fines are not to exceed $250.

Manufacturing and Distributing Controlled Substances

When you have been charged with the distribution, manufacturing, and sale of controlled substances in Virginia, this can be a very serious crime. It is illegal according to the criminal code in Virginia to give, sell, manufacture or distribute any controlled substance. Because of the nature of this type of crime, it is also illegal to have a lot of a controlled substance in your possession because it is reason to believe that you intend to sell or distribute this controlled substance instead of using it for yourself.

The worst types of these cases are if you have been found in possession of heroin— in particular, if you have 100g or more of heroin. Other related charges would be if you were found in possession of 10g or more of methamphetamine or 500g or more of cocaine.

When people are found guilty of these types of crimes, they are considered felons. The consequences can be five years to life in jail and up to $1 million in fines. For these particular types of crimes, the minimum mandatory prison sentence is five years and you cannot get parole for any reason.

If you have lesser quantities of these drugs, it can depend upon which type of drug law enforcement found, but the penalties can be less harsh. If the drugs you were found in possession of were Schedule I and II, the penalties could be anywhere from 5 to 40 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000, as well as having a felony on your permanent record. If you are a second time offender, then the maximum prison sentence would be 40 years. Penalties remain the same if you have multiple offenses aside from the five years of prison, which would then be required and mandatory as a minimum.

If you were found with Schedule III drugs, you might see a reduced penalty of 10 years in prison with fines that are no more than $2500. This would be a Class 5 penalty.

If you were charged with a Schedule IV controlled substance possession, this would be a Class 6 felony with five years in prison and up to $2500 in fines. Schedule V and VI controlled drug possession is a Class 1 misdemeanor with one year in jail and $2500 in fines.

Drug Testing Laws

If you are up against a charge because you passed your drug test through deceit, then you could be facing some serious penalties. It is illegal to intentionally lie on a drug or alcohol screening. The same criminal code also says that it is illegal for you to sell or give away urine samples that are intended to help others pass drug and alcohol screenings.

If you’ve used or you have been accused of giving away a urine sample to help someone pass a drug test, this is prohibited and you might want to reach out to our Virginia drug charge lawyers right away. If you are convicted with such a charge, you could face up to a year of incarceration as well as $2500 in fines. These laws can be interpreted subjectively, which gives us room to fight these types of charges. We hope you reach out to us soon.

Call Our Virginia Drug Charge Lawyers Today 

If you have been charged with a drug crime, our Virginia drug charge lawyers want to hear from you right away to see how we can help you through this and give you the support that you need. Call us right away to set up your first consultation to understand what your rights are and how we can help you through this very confusing and upsetting time.