On March 27, a North Carolina man was sentenced to more than seven years in prion on a heroin trafficking conviction and other charges. The man, age 27, will serve anywhere from a minimum of 90 months in prison to a maximum of 120 months.
The man was taken into custody on June 7. He was accused of trafficking more than 14 grams of heroin when he was served with arrest warrants. Additionally, authorities seized digital scales and other drug trafficking paraphernalia. In addition to the prion sentence, he received a fine of $100,000 in addition to about $963 in court costs. He was credited with one day for being confined prior to the trial.
People who are convicted on these types of drug charges face serious consequences. For example, a person facing drug trafficking charges may face years in prison and expensive fines that could make it difficult for them to move on once they have paid their debt.
A criminal law attorney may create a strong defense for the accused person depending on the particular circumstances of the case. For example, the attorney may argue that the drugs that the authorities recovered did not belong to the defendant, or that the search that led to the seizure of the drugs violated the defendant’s constitutional rights. If the evidence was tampered with after it was collected by investigators, the attorney may attempt to get the case dismissed as the evidence would not be admissible in court. Otherwise, the attorney may work with the prosecution to reduce the charges and the consequences the defendant may face.
Source: Citizen-Times, “2 plead guilty to drug charges in Buncombe County“, Abigail Margulis, March 28, 2017