Oxycodone Trafficking

Oxycodone is an opioid pain medication used to treat pain. It can be habit-forming and can slow someone's breathing, and fatal side effects can occur when somebody uses Oxycodone with alcohol or other drugs that cause drowsiness and slowed breathing. Many people are surprised to learn that they can be charged with oxycodone trafficking even when they do not have ties to crime syndicates. Oxycodone trafficking can be charged based on simply possessing a threshold amount. At Hanlon Law, St. Petersburg oxycodone trafficking lawyer Will Hanlon strongly believes in protecting the rights of the accused.

You can be charged with oxycodone trafficking if you have a minimum of seven grams of oxycodone or a mixture that contains oxycodone. What matters is the overall weight of the mixture, rather than just the weight of the pure oxycodone. If you have the threshold amount or more, you face the possibility of being sentenced to a mandatory minimum. When a mandatory minimum is prescribed for a particular offense, the judge does not have discretion except in extremely limited circumstances involving youthful offenders to depart downward from that sentence.

The prosecution needs to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that you were knowingly in actual or constructive possession of at least seven grams of oxycodone or any salt of it, or that you knowingly sold, made, bought, delivered, or carried into Florida this amount. If you are caught with 7-14 grams, you may face a mandatory minimum sentence of three years’ imprisonment and a $50,000 fine. If you are caught with 14-25 grams, you may face a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years and a $100,000 fine. If you are caught with 25-100 grams of oxycodone, you may face a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years and a $500,000 fine. If you are caught with 100 grams-30 kg of oxycodone, you may face a mandatory minimum of 25 years’ imprisonment and a $750,000 fine. There are also other potential penalties, such as the suspension or loss of a professional license. To avoid these penalties and the stigma that comes from having a criminal record, you should consult an oxycodone trafficking attorney in the St. Petersburg area.

Someone who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of oxycodone, or who sells, buys, makes, delivers, or carries into the state 30 kg or more of oxycodone (or a mixture containing it) faces the possibility of being charged with a first-degree felony. This charge is punishable by life imprisonment, in which you are ineligible for any kind of discretionary early release. When someone knowingly brings into Florida 60 kg or more of oxycodone or a mixture including oxycodone that weighs this amount, and they know that the probable result of doing this is the death of somebody else, they can be charged with capital importation of illegal drugs, which is a capital felony.

There are a number of different defenses that a St. Petersburg oxycodone trafficking attorney might develop for you, depending on the circumstances. These include Fourth Amendment violations, such as a lack of probable cause to stop you during the detention in which the drugs were found, the illegal search and seizure of a home or car, and the lack of a valid warrant prior to the search that resulted in the threshold amount of oxycodone being found. When a defendant's constitutional rights are violated in the course of obtaining evidence, it may be possible to win a motion to suppress the evidence. Without the crucial evidence of a threshold amount of oxycodone, the prosecutor probably will not be able to prove the case. In other cases, it may be possible to secure a dismissal of the charges based on a valid prescription.

You should hire an aggressive and skillful St. Petersburg criminal attorney if you are being investigated for oxycodone trafficking. In trafficking cases, the judge does not have the discretion to sentence you to less than the mandatory minimum, so it is important to hire an attorney who will mount a strong defense at the earliest possible stage. Will Hanlon has been providing aggressive and knowledgeable criminal defense representation since 1994. You can call Hanlon Law at 727.289.0222 or complete our online form.