Brad Post: We are speaking to Tampa Drug Crimes Defense Lawyer Mike Kenny with the Bauer, Crider, and Parry Law Firm, and you’re listening to the FloridaDefense.com Podcast. Mike, how are you?

 

Mike Kenny: I’m doing well. How are you?

 

BP: I’m doing great. Let’s kind of dive into it today. We’re going to be talking about mainly drug crimes and an overview of drug crimes, so where would be a good place to start?

 

MK: Well, I guess talking about the categories of drug crimes. In the state of Florida, you have essentially three different areas where you get a drug crime. And obviously there are subcategories, but the three different areas are misdemeanor possessions, felony possessions, and then there’s trafficking possessions, a felony possession that comes with a much more enhanced level—it’s a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Any trafficking charge has a specific minimum mandatory prison sentence, meaning the judge has no discretion but to give you the minimum amount of time in the Department of Corrections, and it’s a day-for-day sentence, meaning 28 grams of cocaine is a three-year minimum mandatory prison sentence. So if you were found guilty, and the judge were to sentence you, he’d give you no less than three years in prison and you’d have to serve 100% of that three years. There would be no parole or probation or anything like that to get out earlier. You’d serve 100% of three years.

 

BP: So on a trafficking offense, there’s subcategories, it depends on the amount of drugs you have.

 

MK: Correct, it goes by the weight. A lot of people don’t realize that it goes by the actual weight of the substance tested or any mixture thereof. So, what gets people into trouble are pills. These pills obviously are pills like oxycodone and OxyContin, and all you need is four grams to have a three-year minimum trafficking charge. The problem with it is, it’s not four grams of the actual ingredient—the oxycodone—but it’s a mixture, and those pills are pretty heavy. So a very small quantity of pills in a pill bottle, if you don’t have a prescription, is going to qualify you for a trafficking charge. And trafficking in Florida is unique; it doesn’t just go after people who sell drugs or transport drugs into the state. Just the mere fact that you possessed an item that weighed a certain amount could give you a trafficking charge. I’ve always had a problem with this because, you know, I’m not the first person to say it, but we can probably all remember a time when we’ve read somewhere in the news that there’s a pill epidemic. Young kids, especially because of the free and easy access of these pills, become addicted. And you have people who are addicts, who are not out selling it, not out harming anyone but themselves, find themselves getting arrested with a small quantity of pills in their pocket, and they’re looking at going to prison anywhere from three years to the rest of their lives. So that’s a problem that people run into when we’re talking about prescription pills especially.

 

BP: And it’s based on weight, so I guess with different drugs—marijuana, cocaine, oxy—there are certain parameters around each one on the weight?

 

MK: Right. And the statute—it’s Florida Statute 893.135—has a schedule for what the amount is for each drug. For instance, cocaine is 28 grams, oxycodone is four grams. Those are the minimum amounts for a trafficking charge, and it will vary from drug to drug. The unique this is, I mentioned some drug possessions are misdemeanors. Marijuana is the only drug that under 20 grams is considered a misdemeanor. So if you have 19 grams or 19.9 grams or less, that would be a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by up to a year in jail or maybe a year of probation. Anything 20 grams or over is a felony, so that would be a felony possession, which is a third-degree felony in the state of Florida, punishable by up to five years in prison or five years of probation.

 

BP: So you would recommend for any of these categories, not just felony or trafficking, to hire a criminal defense attorney—even for a misdemeanor, correct?

 

MK: Oh, absolutely. People don’t realize that walking into court completely unarmed and just entering a charge—that moment in time can have an impact on the rest of your life. And a lot of people tend to be fast and loose with things. They say, “Alright. We’ll just see what happens.” Well there’s nothing you can really do three years down the line, when entering a plea to a charge somehow precludes you from getting that job that you really wanted. One of the unique things about the state of Florida, as well, is that they’re pretty fierce when it comes to drug prosecution. They have a lot of drug ports, and they try to help people, but they punish drug possession with a one-year driver’s license suspension. So if a person were to walk in, and they were adjudicated guilty of even a misdemeanor possession of marijuana, they’d have the potential to lose their license for up to one year. And that, for a lot of people (especially in this state), could be very problematic with regard to employment, school, or anything of that nature.

 

BP: Well, that’s kind of an overview of the three areas of drug crimes—misdemeanor, felony, and trafficking, and our next few podcasts, let’s get kind of into specifics: marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs. Anything else, Mike, on an overview of these crimes?

 

MK: No, that will be it. The one last thing is there is another misdemeanor possession charge that’s not marijuana. We’ve heard the term “controlled substances”—these are categories of drugs that are considered controlled by their propensity for addiction or things like this. There are drugs that are not listed in the statute, usually drugs your doctor gives a prescription for that haven’t been designated as controlled substances. All of those drugs are considered “legend” drugs. So that would be like an Ambien—something that’s a sleep aid—Viagra, something like that. If someone is caught with something like that, it wouldn’t be a felony, but because they don’t have a prescription, it’s still illegal, and that would be a misdemeanor. It’s called possession of a legend drug.

 

BP: Okay, as long as the amount is below the weight—or is that even an issue?

 

MK: No, weight doesn’t even come up. It just falls into a category where they haven’t listed it as a controlled substance, but you still need a prescription to obtain it, and because you need a prescription, if you have it without a prescription, it’s still a problem.

 

BP: You’ve been listening to the FloridaDefense.com Podcast with Attorney Mike Kenny of the Bauer, Crider, and Parry Law Firm.