8 Reasons a Drug Crime Lawyer May Be Your Best Chance to Avoid Jail

Posted: March 30, 2021 at 12:00 am

If you’re facing criminal charges due to possession, use or sale of drugs, hiring a drug crime lawyer is likely to be the best chance you have of avoiding jail time. A competent attorney who is familiar with the rules in Overland Park, KS and the surrounding area can help you to build a solid case, reduce your charges, or even suppress them entirely.

8 Reasons a Drug Crime Lawyer May Be Your Best Chance to Avoid Jail

1. Drug Crimes Are Punished Very Harshly

In the US, and particularly in Kansas, the laws regarding the possession, use and sale of drugs are very strict. Although marijuana has been legalized in some states, this is not the case here, and its possession often leads to significant fines and time spent in jail. What’s more, people who have had criminal charges in the past face a number of issues later in life, such as trouble finding work and being approved for a loan.

To maximize the chance of your case getting dismissed or of obtaining a favorable outcome, especially if you live in an area like Overland Park, KS, it is vital to enlist the help of an expert. A lawyer specializing in drug crimes will know exactly what to check for and how to best lay out your case.

2. Even Small Amounts of Drugs Can Take Away Your Freedom 

Many people mistakenly believe that whether or not they need a lawyer depends on the amount of drugs they were caught with. However, this is usually not the case, since getting caught with a smaller quantity doesn’t necessarily mean that your sentence will be light. For example, even if you were in possession of fewer than 25 grams of marijuana, you may still face a $300,000 fine and up to 51 months in jail if it is presumed that you intended to distribute it.

Other drugs are treated in a similar way, but often even more strictly. If you were caught distributing only 1-3.5 grams of meth or heroin, you can expect up to 83 months in prison. Remember that these figures can vary depending on your particular case. However, they demonstrate how much is at stake, even when the weight of drugs in your possession was very small. Because of the high stakes of such a case, enlisting the help of a professional is essential.

3. Your Lawyer Can Build a Solid Case

With detailed knowledge of the law surrounding drugs and years of experience, a competent attorney will be able to build the best case possible for you. This includes making sure the evidence is consistent, that all of your rights are protected, and that none of the evidence was tainted or tampered with. They will also be able to help you to prepare for your trial and give you some advice on how to handle this.

4. They Will Provide Support in a Challenging Life Phase

Being caught in possession or while using or even distributing drugs can be a challenging and traumatic experience for many. With so much stress and fear, you are likely to have trouble thinking clearly about your situation. This kind of life event can also put enormous strain on your personal relationships, and your friends and family may not be able to offer the kind of support you need.

A lawyer can help to guide you through this phase and offer their professional support while you figure out the next steps. Unlike the people close to you, an attorney is impartial and can view the situation from an outside perspective. This kind of help can make the difference between you losing hope and you proactively working to improve the situation.

5. You Won’t Lose Hope

When faced with a situation this challenging, it’s hard to see a way out and you may be tempted to give up. Often, specific treatment programs and sentence presumptions are used in courts that can make it very challenging for you to plead your innocence. However, if you do not feel that you should plead guilty, there’s no reason to do so, and there is in all likelihood another way, which your lawyer can help you to find.

Sometimes, diversion may be an appropriate option, or your case could even be suppressed if there is evidence of a violation of your rights. Such a strategy could be the simplest way of creating a positive outcome. If you hire a competent attorney, you can be confident that all of these avenues will be explored and you’re getting the best shot at a positive outcome.

6. Your Case Could Be Suppressed

When the police break the law, it is very likely that a case will be suppressed. But to take advantage of this fact, you must know your rights, and a lawyer is the safest way of making sure you don’t miss out. For example, you are not likely to be charged if you were found in possession of drugs during an illegal traffic stop. If there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before you were stopped, police officers are not allowed to ask you to pull over. 
Other potential ways to get your charges dismissed are if your search was non-consensual and the officer did not have a search warrant, or if you were detained for an unreasonable amount of time before any evidence was found. In case any of these apply, your rights will have been violated, which can be grounds for a case to be suppressed. Your legal team will examine all parts of your case to find out whether you were in one of these situations at any point. 

7. Your Lawyer Has Relationships With Prosecutors

If your case cannot be dismissed, an experienced local lawyer may still be able to procure a more favorable outcome than you could do on your own. This is because they know the prosecuting attorneys. They will know how to best handle their counterpart and what strategies they are likely to employ, and they may even have a positive relationship with them and be able to negotiate a better outcome that helps you to avoid jail. 

8. Your Future Can Be Protected

Finally, your lawyer will help to protect your future. As mentioned, spending time in prison and having a felony on your criminal record can have many negative consequences for later life. Your attorney may be able to keep it off the record, prevent you from going to jail at all, and maybe even help you to keep your job.

What’s more, despite the fact that they can cost a significant sum of money, they can save you more in the long run. Since the fines for drug crimes are so high in Kansas, your lawyer’s fee may well be smaller than the amount you’d otherwise have to pay. By protecting your future interests, your attorney could not only stop you from being let go from your job or having to miss work due to jail time, but also prevent you from losing your professional license.

When faced with serious criminal charges related to drugs, you are most likely to avoid jail if you hire a competent drug crime lawyer. In the Overland Park, KS area, contact Henderson Legal Defense, LLC to speak to one of our experts. As designated Super Lawyers with an Avvo rating of 10.0, our professionals are at the top of their field and will be able to assist you every step of the way.