Drug charges can carry severe consequences if a charge results in a conviction. Although public scrutiny can often lead to assumptions of guilt, anyone who is arrested and charged with drug crimes is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Not every charge results in a conviction and those who are faced with serious charges have the right to defend themselves properly in a court of law.
A couple from Wilmington are now facing the possibility of severe sentences after they pleaded guilty last week to firearm and drug charges.
According to police, a 35-year-old man pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The man and his 34-year-old wife pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a quantity of various drugs. Officials claim those drugs include marijuana, methylenedioxymethampetamine and Oxycodone.
Police claim that the couple were expecting a package in the mail from Washington state. They said the package, which they identified as being suspicious, had marijuana, Ecstasy and Oxycodone. The couple supposedly went to the post office to get the package. The incident happened earlier this year.
It is unclear whether police had a search warrant, but they reported searching the couple’s home and supposedly finding controlled substances, drug paraphernalia and a 9mm gun.
The husband and his wife will be sentenced in April, according to police. The drug charges carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The firearms charge also carries a sentence of five years to life in prison.
Source: News Observer, “Wilmington couple convicted of drug, firearm charges,” Jan. 11, 2012
