LSD Trafficking

LSD, also known as "acid" and other names, is a powerful, mood-changing chemical made from lysergic acid found in the ergot fungus. LSD is made in crystal form in laboratories, and the crystals are turned into an odorless and colorless liquid to be distributed. Often, LSD is distributed on the street for recreational use in gelatin squares called window panes, small tablets known as microdots, or small absorbent paper squares with cartoon characters on them. Generally, an acid trip lasts 12 hours, and this sometimes turns disastrous. You can be charged with LSD trafficking if you have the minimum amount, which can have serious consequences. St. Petersburg LSD trafficking lawyer Will Hanlon knows how to fight a drug charge and is ready to discuss your options with you.

In order to secure a conviction for LSD trafficking, a prosecutor needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you knowingly possessed, sold, purchased, made, delivered, or carried into the state one gram or more of either acid or a mixture that contained LSD and another drug, such as amphetamines. In some cases, it is possible to attack the charge by showing that the prosecution cannot prove these elements beyond a reasonable doubt. For example, your involvement may not have been knowing. If you were driving a car, and your roommate was accompanying you, carrying a suitcase containing four grams of acid, you may not have known that the acid was there or that you were transporting the acid. In that case, it may be possible for an LSD trafficking attorney in St. Petersburg to defeat the charge.

If you have one gram or more of acid, you can be charged with trafficking, rather than another drug crime. Trafficking carries a mandatory minimum sentence, and these sentences are steeper with the more acid that is involved. Most often, that means that a judge cannot look at mitigating factors and depart downward for your sentence. Complicating factors could include other crimes, such as a probation violation or a sex crime. If you are caught with 1-5 grams of LSD, you face a possible mandatory minimum prison sentence of three years and a $50,000 fine. If you are caught with 5-7 grams of LSD, you face a possible mandatory minimum prison sentence of seven years and a $100,000 fine. If you are caught with seven grams or more of LSD, you face a potential mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 calendar years and a $500,000 fine. If the prosecutor can show that you knowingly made or imported into the state a minimum of seven grams of LSD or an LSD-containing mixture, and you knew that the probable result of making or importing the acid would be someone's death, you can be convicted of a capital felony.

There often are defenses that a St. Petersburg LSD trafficking attorney can raise, whether you are a bit player in a trafficking operation or an important figure. What is at issue is how much LSD was involved. If the LSD was not found directly on you, the prosecution will mostly need to use circumstantial evidence. It may be possible to attack the circumstantial evidence, particularly if the police violated your constitutional rights in connection with obtaining it. For example, if the police did not have a warrant that was needed to make a search that led to a discovery of seven grams of acid, it may be possible to get the evidence of the seven grams suppressed. Similarly, if you were in a custodial interrogation related to another suspected crime, and you admitted trafficking in LSD, it might be possible to get your confession suppressed if you were not given Miranda warnings before being questioned.

In other cases, it may be possible to raise the defenses of substantial assistance or entrapment. However, these defenses are fact-sensitive and should only be raised with the help of an experienced St. Petersburg criminal attorney.

You should immediately consult an aggressive criminal defense attorney if you are being investigated for LSD trafficking. When sentencing in a drug trafficking case, the judge must sentence you to the mandatory minimum except in limited circumstances, so it is important to hire an attorney who will mount a vigorous defense at the earliest possible stage. Will Hanlon has offered tough criminal defense representation to the accused since 1994. You can call Hanlon Law at 727.289.0222 or use our online form.