Henrico County Drug Conspiracy Charges
Unlike in other drug cases, conspiracy can be charged even without an actual drug sale taking place. It is as as result of this, that it becomes so important to hire an experienced Henrico County drug lawyer who can look at the facts against you and help develop a defense. Call today to learn more.
How Drug Conspiracy Charges Differ From Other Drug Cases
Drug conspiracy cases are different than simple drug possession or intent charges because of the elements required to provide a conspiracy exited. Conspiracy is defined as two or more individuals working together to commit a criminal act or a drug law violation. With these sorts of charges, the state has to show that you are working in concert with two or more people to sell, possess, or distribute. These charges are very serious and they can result in jail sentences that can range anywhere from twelve months minimum sentences and up to five years in jail.
What Needs To Be Proven
With the conspiracy case, the prosecutors need to show, number one, that an actual conspiracy occurred, in other words they have to show that two or more individuals agreed with each other to carry out a crime. In addition to that, those individuals must take steps toward committing that crime and the prosecutors must show that each individual knew of the steps they were taking, intended to take those steps, and committed some acts in furtherance of it.
Throughout the entire case the prosecutors must show that the parties knew what they were doing and/or had an agreement to conduct those violations. This makes conspiracy charges difficult to prove to allow for more defenses attorneys to establish a stronger defense.
Conspiracy Investigations
Law enforcement approaches drug conspiracy investigations much the same as distribution cases. In other words, prosecutors are typically using confidential informants or undercover officers to show that. Law enforcement officials are trying to show that two or more individuals had knowledge of the criminal activity and took steps to carry that activity out. They’ll use confidential informants to either become part of the conspiracy or to gain knowledge of conspiracy. They’ll also use video and audio tape to support the knowledge of the agreement and/or the conspiracy and they’ll try and use all these together to show the violation.
Can You Be Charged With Conspiracy and The Underlying Offense?
With conspiracy charges you’ll almost always be charged with underlying offense as well as the conspiracy, so in many cases if it’s a distribution case as the underlying charge or possession case is the underlying charge, not only will they charge you with distribution, but also with the conspiracy. The penalties on conspiracy cases can be very severe and will require an experienced attorney to assist.
Importance of a Criminal Lawyer
What you need to look for an attorney in a conspiracy case is you need to find an attorney that has experience arguing these sorts of cases and challenging these sorts of cases mainly just because the evidence is – the evidence requirements are so strict on conspiracy cases. You’re going to want an attorney that knows how to challenge the fact that a conspiracy even occurred, you’re going to want an experience attorney that knows how to challenge the testimony of the confidential informant and the evidence and how it was obtained.
What differs really is just the amount of knowledge an attorney is going to need on conspiracy case. You’re going to want someone with experience that have handled these bigger cases and also knows how to negotiate with the prosecutors in order to get a charge reduced or to mitigate the punishment that could be imposed.
