Felony Drug Charges in Illinois: What You Need to Know

 Posted on April 21, 2015 in Drug Crimes

In Illinois, there are different felonies related to drug crimes. A felony drug conviction involving controlled substances can result in serious consequences and significant jail time. Some of the potential charges include:

Possession With Intent To Deliver

The charge of possession with intent to deliver generally indicates that law enforcement seized or discovered an amount of an illegal substance or substances so large that there is implied intent to sell or distribute.

Delivery Of A Controlled Substance

The charge of delivery of a controlled substance results when a person is suspected of giving a controlled substance to another person.

Manufacturing Of A Controlled Substance

The charge of manufacturing of a controlled substance results when a person is suspected of  either cultivating a controlled substance or manufacturing synthetic controlled substances such as methamphetamine.

Sentencing Penalties for Drug Crimes In Illinois

The penalties for drug distribution and, or possession often vary and are influenced by a variety of factors such as the quantity and type of drug, if firearms were involved or in proximity, any prior criminal history of the accused, and other nuances such as the classification of the substance according to Illinois state law.

Serious narcotics violations may result in felony charges and possible sentencing terms of up to fifteen or more years in prison. Fines in excess of several hundred thousand dollars or greater (depending on the amount of the assets gained from the alleged narcotics operation) can be imposed as well.

A Potential Key To Defending Drug Charges

Any charges levied in a felony drug case must eventually be proven by fact or dismissed. The government alleging that a substance is an illegal substance does not make it a fact. The alleged illegal substance must be tested by a crime lab and it is not uncommon for crime labs to issue inaccurate reports. In many counties across Illinois, crime labs are swamped with backlogged evidence and overworked technicians who are at risk for making mistakes.

Lab results can be invalidated if they lack conclusive data. Will the government have the data to prove that the substance they are alleging is an illegal substance, is, in fact, one according to its chemical composition?

It will be important for your defense team to ask the following questions:

• What are the lab’s testing protocols?
• Where the lab’s protocols correctly followed?
• Did the lab technicians actually test the drug?
• Was the weight of substance tested and recorded correctly?
• Was there contamination or a possibility of contamination?
• What machines were used to determine results?
• What is the probability of error for the machines used in the testing?

At the Law Offices of Scott F. Anderson, Illinois criminal defense attorney, Scott Anderson, has over 23 years of experience working in the Illinois criminal justice system. He has handled criminal cases both in the trial courts and on appeal.  He has represented clients for misdemeanor and felony crimes throughout Cook, Lake, DuPage and McHenry Counties. Please call 847-253-3400 to schedule a free initial consultation today.