If you were arrested on a drug charge anywhere in Queens, your case begins at Queens Criminal Court, 125-01 Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens, where arraignments run every day of the week from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The charge on the complaint depends on what the police say they found and whether they claim you meant to sell it, and that claim of intent can move a case from a class A misdemeanor to a class B felony. Spodek Law Group P.C. owes loyalty to only you, and our work starts by testing every piece of how that charge was put together.
Where Penal Law 220 draws the lines between degrees.
Seventh-degree possession under Penal Law 220.03 covers knowingly and unlawfully possessing any controlled substance and is a class A misdemeanor, which Penal Law 70.15 caps at 364 days in jail. Fifth-degree possession under 220.06 is a class D felony that reaches cocaine weighing 500 milligrams or more, a narcotic preparation of half an ounce or more, or any controlled substance held with intent to sell. Third-degree possession under 220.16 is a class B felony, charged when a narcotic drug is held with intent to sell or a narcotic mixture weighs half an ounce or more. Because weight and intent do the grading, we press the lab on its measurements and contest any inference of intent that rests on packaging alone.
Sale charges and what a felony drug conviction can cost.
Selling a controlled substance is criminal sale in the fifth degree under Penal Law 220.31, a class D felony, while selling a narcotic drug is criminal sale in the third degree under 220.39, a class B felony. For a first felony drug offender, Penal Law 70.70 sets determinate ranges of 1 to 9 years on a class B, 1 to 5.5 on a class C, 1 to 2.5 on a class D and 1 to 1.5 on a class E, with 2 to 9 years for a class B sale on school grounds or to a child. That same statute lets the court sentence class B through E drug felonies to probation, which is where much of our negotiating begins.
Treatment as an alternative to a conviction in Queens.
Queens Criminal Court runs treatment programs it identifies as QMTC and QMVTC, in which participants enter and remain in drug or alcohol treatment while returning to a judge regularly, for a length that depends on the charges, the record, the plea and your progress. On the felony side, the DA's Felony Trial Bureaus staff the Queens Drug Court and the Queens Judicial Diversion Court, both offering community-based treatment in lieu of incarceration. CPL 216.05 lets an eligible defendant ask, after arraignment and before plea or trial, for an alcohol and substance use evaluation, and we decide with you whether requesting one actually serves your case.
