How Does Prince William County Treat Drug Convictions?

Drug cases in Prince William County are prosecuted very vigorously. The penalties associated with them are severe, and prosecutors try to seek the maximum penalty for the accused. This doesn’t mean your case is a lost cause. Your Prince William County drug lawyer can aggressively fight for your rights and can try to negotiate a lesser sentence.

Penalties for a Drug Conviction in Prince William County

Drug charges can always trigger stiff penalties and Prince William is known for this especially. For example, anytime there is a drug charge, there is the potential for incarceration. Drug charges under Virginia law always carry the possibility of a loss of driving privileges and even possessing a small amount of many kinds of drugs can result not just in jail, but prison time, especially if it is what’s called a schedule 1 or schedule 2 drug like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, or illegally possessed prescription drugs.

Judges and prosecutors see a lot of these kinds of cases in Prince William County. They see the fallout from these cases and the damage that it does not just for the defendant, but also to the other victims. And so they take these crimes very seriously and punish them very harshly. It’s important that someone have an experienced drug defense attorney in their corner to make sure that they’re not being treated unfairly and to help them in either reducing their charge or in some cases having the charge be dismissed.

First Time Offenses

There are diversionary programs for certain drug offenses but not all of them. A person has to be a first-time offender, but even then, there are ways that a person can be ineligible. If you are facing a drug possession charge in Prince William County, it is advised that you speak to an attorney to see if you are eligible for any programs for a first-time offense.

These types come with strings attached. There are situations where somebody might think that they want to enter into these programs, but find out that entering into the program does not solve all of their problems because the charge will be on their record throughout their life. So, the programs are something; they sometimes are available to the person, but not always.

Prince William County Drug Charges

Judges in Prince William County treat drug charges very seriously. How they will treat any given case depends a lot on the nature of the case. Judges are in Prince William County are frequently more lenient towards individuals who have not had previous charges or whether there are other circumstances in their life which may offer them some explanation or excuse, particularly when this is coupled with proactive efforts on the part of the individual to seek help or treatment of some kind.

Drug charges are treated more seriously and that seriousness escalates with the number of offenses the person has been convicted of, with the kind of drug in question, and the quantity of drug.

There’s an entire spectrum to how drug charges are treated. On one hand, someone who is caught with one of the less serious drugs who seeks treatment and is proactive can reasonably anticipate that they will be treated with some leniency. On the other end of the spectrum is someone who has repeat offenses involving hard drugs and large quantities of them, and they can expect to receive very harsh treatments from the court and in some cases extremely lengthy periods of incarceration. That’s why it’s important to contact an experienced local counsel to represent you in trial.