Drug Trafficking: Marijuana

An arrest for Trafficking of Marijuana is one of the most serious criminal cases that can be brought by the State.  

Georgia law criminalizes knowingly selling, manufacturing, growing, delivering, bringing into this state or possessing marijuana.  A Defendant must know he possesses the substance and know it is the drug specified not how much it weighed.

To be prosecuted for Marijuana Trafficking a Defendant must possess at least 10 pounds of Marijuana.  Someone convicted of drug trafficking must be sentenced by the court to a minimum of 5 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. This prison sentence cannot be probated , suspended, or withheld, meaning the court must send you to prison if convicted of trafficking.  As the weight of illegal drugs increases the mandatory jail sentence and mandatory fine increase.

Georgia law will not allow conviction in a drug case where the a Defendant is merely near drugs,
there must be more evidence linking the drugs to the Defendant than spacial proximity.  For example, in Benitz v. State, the Defendant was with someone who sold drugs to an undercover officer, there was no evidence that he did anything more than know there was a drug deal commencing.  The State could not prove he participated or aided in the drug deal and the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed his conviction. In some cases, a Defendant is entitled to a directed verdict of not guilty by the Judge when  the only evidence of the drugs ownership is the Defendants ownership of the car, house, or place where the drugs were located.

Marijuana Drug Trafficking is one of the most serious criminal cases someone can be charged with in Georgia.  If you are convicted it can affect you for years to come, long after the days in prison are over and the time spent on probation has ended.  At the The Lynch Law Group, we fight hard to protect you from being convicted.  We prepare every case as if it is going to trial because this how we are able to obtain the best outcome for you.