It is unlawful to be possessing illegal substances. It is punishable by fines and even imprisonment. The crime involves a possession that was to be distributed. There are segments we can split up the case to. Possession is the first area, and the other one is on intention to distribute. The art of possession and distribution is what the other parts are about. The possession with the intent to distribute crime has not been committed until all the three crimes have been proven to take place. Most of the states however are using the federal definition on cases related to this.
Having the controlled substances are against the law, and you can be arrested for that. This is where you are likely to find illegal drugs in hand or the pocket of an individual. What this means is that the drugs are with them. For this to constitute property yet, the accused has to be knowing that they had the drug. Most jurisdictions, however, go with the idea that the accused should have known they are in possession of illegal drugs the prosecution, therefore, has a straightforward way to prove this aspect.
On the distribution element, the government needs to prove that the person possessing drug had the intention of doing something with the drugs. This is somewhat difficult since you can’t get into the mind of a person. They can, however, get a proven through the situations surrounding. The case can get the rots from the fact that the accused were having a large number of drugs. Where you are found with large amounts of drug paraphernalia, packaging materials and a lot of cash; it is a lead to distribution. The discussions with the customers could as well work as proof.
It is not until proven that the accused was in possession of a drug and that they intended to distribute that possession with intent can be a charge. Being arrest with an amount that is for personal consumption, cannot be possession with intent as there is no intention to distribute. Another incident would be a person intending to sell a large portion of drugs but the drugs are not in their possession.
The controlled product you were possessing is what determines the weight of your case. Determination of the case is generally done by the federal judge. Unless mitigating a particular factor, they are required to follow the set guidelines to rule out the case. Depending on the control products are the years to be convicted and the fines you have to pay. It also dependent of whether you have committed such a crime before.
To maneuver through the case you need a professional attorney. You need a strong defense to win the case through the professional attorneys. The prosecutors have been able to find it quite hard to prove the three elements thus lawyers may help out.