Question 5

We all know Arizona is a major source of drugs being smuggled from Mexico. What happens if someone is caught with a large quantity of drugs? (transcribed from video interview with Dwane Cates, Attorney at law Phoenix AZ www. azlaw4u.com)

Well, Arizona takes large amounts of marijuana very seriously and in many cases it involves a great deal of prison time. It's very important if you're caught with a large amount of marijuana that you hire an attorney. Now there are two routes that it can go. You can be charged in the state courts or you can be charged in the federal courts. Now, in the federal courts, the amount of prison time that you could serve is based solely on the amount of marijuana you have and it's a very complicated system and you need a very good attorney who has experience in federal court in drug crimes to handle that case. In Arizona, any amount over two pounds is technically a felony and mandatory prison. Now not everybody with over 2 pounds goes to prison because plea bargins can be struck and sometimes cases get dismissed. But both cases are very serious and you need a top notch drug attorney.

So basically if you're caught with a large quantity of drugs you're going to end up in jail.

Well, not always, that's why you need a good criminal offense attorney who's experienced in drug crimes. Now there are cases where we get cases thrown out because of a bad search, or because they filed on somebody's constituional rights in the way they stopped them, they didn't give them the proper miranda warnings. There are alot of different ways you can attack at one of these highway drug cases, even with large quantities. You need to have an attorney who will leave no stone unturned to try to find a way to either reduce your sentence or try to get your case dismissed.