Mecklenburg Drug Charges 

Mecklenburg drug charges range on a case-by-case basis. There could be companion charges as well. The individual will be arrested and taken before a magistrate. Based upon a number of factors, including their previous record, the severity of the charge, or the number of charges, the individual will either receive a bond or be denied a bond. At that point, based on their status in custody, the individual would be advised of their right to an attorney in front of a judge and likely request a bond hearing if the bond has been denied. Contact an experienced Mecklenburg drug lawyer for more on the issue of drug charges.

How Drug Charges Appear on Record

A Mecklenburg drug charge, just like any other criminal charge, appears on a person’s nationwide criminal record. As their first charge, it appears as pending because they have not been found guilty, it has not taken under advisement, the charge is not diverted or amended. It is just pending until the ultimate result of the trial.

Short-Term Consequences

The most immediate and biggest consequence is whether or not a person is going to be incarcerated pending trial for a Mecklenburg drug charge. If the individual is lucky enough to be released pending a serious drug charge, the biggest impact or potential large impact at that point is pre-trial supervision which can range from meeting with probation officers to taking drug tests to random home visits.

Long-Term Consequences

Long-term consequences of Mecklenburg drug charges concern penitentiary time in the Virginia Department of Corrections versus local jail time versus no active period of incarceration. This relates to the drug involved, whether or not a Schedule 1 versus a Schedule 4, a large quantity versus small quantity, or a user versus someone who is actively distributing drugs to other people.

Potential Mistakes by Law Enforcement

Until the drug is actually sent to the Department of Forensic Science in Richmond, there is always the potential that they have mistaken one substance for another.

The experienced attorney has to look at every case individually. They would have to formulate a different approach to a defense based upon whether or not this is a traffic stop – whether or not the police had probable cause or reasonable suspicion; whether or not there is a confidential informant involved. If there is, does that person have a criminal record that might impact their credibility at a potential trial? There are a lot of different factors that go into defending drug cases.

Schedules of Drugs

The schedules of drugs are important to understand because a person will get a different charge depending on the schedule of the drug.

• Schedule 1 drugs have a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in the U.S. The most common Schedule 1 in Mecklenburg is heroin
• Schedule 2 drugs have a high potential for abuse, but it currently has some accepted medical use in treatment in the U.S. The largest Schedule 2 is cocaine
• Schedule 3 drugs have the potential for abuse but less than 1 and 2 drugs and it currently has some accepted medical abuses. Mecklenburg mainly has crack, heroin, and steroids cases
• Schedule 4 drugs have a low potential for abuse relative to other drugs in the Schedules and currently has accepted medical uses in the United States. The most common in Mecklenburg is Xanax
• Schedule 5 drugs have a low potential for abuse and currently has accepted medical treatment and may not be charged

Contacting an Experienced Attorney

An individual should contact an experienced attorney immediately. If an individual is being held without bond based on an arrest for a drug charge, an attorney should be the first person, and the best person to liaison with the court to set up a bond hearing so the individual can be released from incarceration. Then the individual can meet with the attorney and have the time and resources to both prove a good standing in the community, get back to work, get back to their family, and prepare a defense.