Asheville Cocaine Defense Lawyers

Cocaine appears on Schedule II of North Carolina’s controlled substances. This schedule states that the substances that appear in its listing have acceptable medical uses but are highly addictive. The schedule further specifies that the substances can cause psychological dependency if not carefully monitored.

If you are accused of interacting with cocaine in a recreational or professional manner, you may face criminal consequences for those alleged behaviors. Specifically, North Carolina law enforcement may take legal action against you if they suspect you of being guilty of:

Possession of Cocaine

Law enforcement can categorize your alleged possession of cocaine in one of two ways. If you’re accused of simple possession, police officers allegedly found cocaine on your person and believe that you knew what it was. Alternatively, you may face a charge of possession with purpose, which may see you accused of the intent to use or sell the product.

If you are accused of possessing cocaine, you may be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor. These misdemeanors come along with a maximum of 45 days in jail. If you already have a possession conviction on your criminal record, your second offense may merit you a Class 1 felony along with up to five months in jail.

Under certain circumstances, North Carolina law enforcement may charge you with a Class 1 felony and affiliated fine that varies depending on the quantity of cocaine you allegedly possessed.

Distribution of Cocaine

The distribution of cocaine, either on behalf of another person or of your own alleged violation, constitutes a Class G felony. A Class G felony can result in up to 31 months of prison time for convicted parties, along with applicable fines. The sale of cocaine to minors raises a possible charge to a Class E felony, as does the sale of cocaine to pregnant women.

Similarly, trafficking cocaine on behalf of one’s self or another person constitutes a Class G felony. The severity of the charges brought against you can depend on the amount of cocaine you allegedly had in your possession at the time of a transfer. For example:

• The trafficking of 28 and 200 grams of cocaine constitutes a Class G felony
• The trafficking of between 200 and 400 grams of cocaine constitutes a Class F felony
• Trafficking over 400 grams of cocaine constitutes a Class D felony

Distribution is often contested and can potentially be reduced to a possession charge in the right circumstances and with the right lawyer.

Cocaine Manufacturing

If you’re accused of manufacturing cocaine, you may face up to 25 months in prison, along with fines assigned by an attending judge. These fines most often reflect the amount of product you allegedly produced and the circumstances under which said production allegedly occurred.

No matter what specific charges North Carolina attempts to bring you up on, you have the opportunity to plead “not guilty” and challenge those accusations. You can specifically work with an Asheville cocaine defense attorney to bring your charges into question. 

Some of the best arguments against cocaine possession, distribution, trafficking, and/or manufacturing can include:

Lack of Probable Cause

Law enforcement must have a reason to believe that you may be in possession of or otherwise have a relationship with cocaine before they can take action against you. If a police officer attempts to arrest you or otherwise accuse you of interacting with cocaine without proof, any evidence brought against you in criminal court may be thrown out.

Our team can argue that police officers lacked probable cause when initially accusing you of interacting with cocaine. If police officers attempt to bring forward probable cause, our cocaine defense lawyers can investigate those claims for signs of bias and/or inappropriate profiling.

Lack of Intent or Awareness

If you have limited familiarity with a substance like cocaine, malicious individuals may attempt to use your lack of intent or awareness to transfer a substance between two locations. Alternatively, you may find yourself coerced into the transfer of such a substance.

If this is the case, you can argue lack of intent and/or awareness when challenging your cocaine charges. Doing so may help reduce the consequences you might face if you otherwise left your charges unchallenged.