Transportation of a Controlled Substance Attorney Los Angeles

If you’ve been charged with transportation of a controlled substance in Los Angeles, California, or elsewhere in Southern California, you should contact Southern California and Los Angeles Transportation of a Controlled Substance Defense Attorney at The H Law Group. Our drug crime attorneys have the knowledge and experience to defend you and achieve the best possible outcome for you. 

If you’ve been charged with transportation of a controlled substance under California Health and Safety Code Section 11352, you should not take this charge lightly as it is a felony and carries a prison sentence of three (3), six (6) or nine (9) years in California State Prison. As such, if you’ve been charged with this crime, you should immediately contact a drug crime attorney at The H Law Group to defend you and fight for you. Schedule your free consultation today by calling us at (213) 370-0404.

TRANSPORTATION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE HSC 11352

California Health & Safety Code Section 11352 makes it a felony for an individual to transport, sell, and import illegal drugs into the State of California. So, whether you’re importing drugs into the State of California or you’re transporting them in the State, the prosecution can charge and convict you of transportation of a controlled substance.

PROSECUTION’S BURDEN OF PROOF

To convict an individual of violating 11352 HC, the prosecution must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt.

• The defendant transported or imported a controlled substance into the State of California
• The defendant knew that he was transporting or importing a controlled substance
• The defendant knew that the substances he had were a controlled substance
• The quantity of controlled substances the defendant was transporting or importing was of a usable quantity

Note: For the prosecution to prove that the defendant transported drugs, it need only show that he moved them from one location to another. For example, if the defendant moves drugs from his home to his neighbor’s house, which is 100 ft away from his home, he can be charged with and convicted of transportation of a controlled substance. That said, the situation would be different if the defendant’s friend told him to deliver a package to a location, but the defendant did know the contents of the package. 

If the defendant is pulled over for running a red light and is arrested for transportation of a controlled substance, the prosecution will have a hard time proving that he knew what the contents of the package were. In this situation, the defendant should be found not guilty since he did not know the contents of the package.

If you have drugs with you and you’re pulled over, you should not make any statements to law enforcement because making even seemingly minor statements could end up incriminating you. Any statements you make will be used against you. So, cooperate with law enforcement but do not make any statements.

WHAT COUNTS AS A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN CALIFORNIA?

California considers the following substances to be controlled substances:

• Heroin
• Cocaine
• Fentanyl
• Vicodin
• Codeine
• Methamphetamine
• LSD
• Depressants
• Hydrocodone
• Oxycodone
• Morphine

PENALTIES FOR A CONVICTION OF TRANSPORTATION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

If the prosecution convicts an individual of transporting a controlled substance, the individual faces three (3), six (6), or (9) years in a California Statements because transporting a controlled substance is a felony offense. Also, the court may order the individual to pay a fine of up to $20,000.

Also, the court has the discretion to enhance (increase) an individual’s prison sentence depending on the amount of drugs or controlled substances that an individual is convicted of transporting. 

• More than 1kg – 3 years in prison
• More than 4kg – 5 years in prison
• More than 10kg – 10 years in prison
• More than 20kg – 15 years in prison
• More than 40kg – 20 years in prison

So, if you’ve been charged with the transportation of drugs or controlled substances, you should immediately hire a drug crime lawyer to start working on your case. The early a drug attorney begins working on your case, the better the outcome he can achieve for you. Our drug crime attorneys have the knowledge and experience to obtain the best possible outcome for you. Our lawyers may be able to negotiate a favorable plea deal for you.

FEDERAL DRUG CHARGES

If you’ve transported drugs or controlled substances across state lines, you may face federal charges in addition to state charges for the transportation of controlled substances. For example, transporting marijuana, ecstasy, heroin, or cocaine across state lines qualifies as transportation of controlled substances under federal. 

So, if you’ve been charged with State drug crimes in California, you should ask your drug crimes attorney if you’re going to be charged with federal drug crimes, as well. State drug charges are brought in California State Court, whereas federal drug charges are brought in federal court, which is a court that’s different from California State Courts. If convicted of a federal drug charge, an individual must serve prison time in a federal court, not a California State Prison.

DEFENSES FOR TRANSPORTATION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

To defend you, your attorney can use the following defenses if they apply to your case:

• The controlled substances or drugs were found as a result of an illegal search or seizure. In essence, your attorney can file a motion to suppress the controlled substance if the officer violated your constitutional rights when he seized you or searched for the drugs. For example, if the officer did not have probable cause to search your car and violated your constitutional right to be free from unlawful searches, your attorney may be able to successfully argue that your rights were violated and the controlled substances should be suppressed, meaning they should not be used against you as evidence
• The defendant did know of the drug’s presence – To convict an individual, the prosecution must show that the defendant knew of the presence of the drug. If the facts of your case support making this argument, your drug crime attorney will argue that you did not know of the presence of the drug and that the case against you should, therefore, be dismissed
• The defendant did know that the substances he was carrying were controlled substances – Your attorney may be able to argue that although you knew you had something with you, that you did not realize that the substances with you were controlled substances

So, if you’ve been charged with transporting controlled substances or transporting drugs, you should immediately contact a drug crime attorney at The H Law Group. Our attorneys have handled countless drug crime cases, and so they will aggressively defend you to ensure that they achieve the best possible outcome for you.

LOS ANGELES DRUG CRIME ATTORNEY

If you’ve been charged with the transportation of controlled substances, you should contact the transportation of controlled substances attorney at The H Law Group. Our attorneys will do their best to have the charges against you dismissed or negotiate the best plea possible for you. Schedule your free consultation today by filling out the form below or calling us at (213) 370-0404.